Time and Space
by MelodyPnd
Summary: "Who are you? Everyday I'm looking at you and I don't understand who you are nor why you are what you are..." he said looking at her, deep in his thoughts. "I promised to you that we will find out, but the more we know, the less I understand. Who are you..." She shivered, lost. "I don't know..."
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there and welcome to my fanfiction on Doctor Who "Time and Space"! Yeah I know that's a rubbish title but honestly I couldn't find anything cooler and that wouldn't give all the plot away without sounding too long and pretentious.**

 **I do hope you will enjoy this story featuring the Eleventh Doctor and my own character, and since it's still in progress and that it's the first fanfiction I decided to publish, I will really really _really_ appreciate if you leave me some reviews to let me know what you think about it, if you want me to continue (or if I should stay away from every fanfiction website forever!) and all that kind of stuff! Because, I think you'll understand that I won't bother to publish and follow deadlines if no-one is interested in it. You can of course send me pm if you like, I'll be happy to answer to them.**

 **Small disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, its characters and stories as there will be some episodes rewritings in this fanfiction which all belong to BBC, but I own what I create from them, meaning the bits I have changed in the stories, my own chapters, the story I am writing and, of course my own character that will be presented in this first chapter.**

 **Have a nice reading!**

 **Melody :) - x**

* * *

 _Chapter 1_

The British Comic Convention.

Planet of the geeks, sci-fi galaxy, fantastic universe.

Everything here was for the pleasure of the ears and eyes of the geeks, just you name it: video games, movies, comics, tv shows…

Hundreds and hundreds, thousands of people, bumping into each other, pushing each other to get closer and see better. And an awful lot of long, never ending, queues of people, cosplayed or not, waiting outside a room to meet the actors of their favourite tv show or movie.

Within the Doctor Who room was Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, and some cameramen to film the meet and greet.

As another group of friends dressed as the Doctor, Amy and a Dalek went out of the room, Matt sighed: of course he loved meeting Doctor Who fans - even though some were really weird - but it was really exhausting to face all the screams and questions and photo requests.

A light knock on the door made him look up: nobody knocks in the meet and greet, they just usually burst into the room.

He gave a surprised look at Jenna who lift her eyebrows in reponse before smiling.

"Come in!", he said.

The door opened and a girl came in.

She was young, few years younger than Matt, and was wearing neck lenght red hair. She wore black boots, dark pantyhose, a dark denim short skirt, a teal green sweater with a white undershirt, a burgundy scarf and a black coat. One could have said she was dressed as Amy Pond.

Once she closed the door, she turned to face Matt and Jenna, slightly blushing as she layed her eyes on them.

Matt smiled seeing her staying by the door, not daring coming closer: this girl was unusual.

"Come closer sweetie", said Jenna. "Don't be shy, we are not going to eat you."

Ah kind and sweet Jenna.

The girl walked towards them and with a litlle voice said: "Hi"

"Oh look at you! Dressed as Amy hey? Very well done!" said Matt.

The girl smiled.

"To be honest, I'm not. I dress like this everyday, this is my style, for real."

Unusual girl.

These two words were going round and round inside his head. He looked at her, almost staring, trying to find that thing that was generating tinglings under his skin.

"What's your name?" asked Matt, a serious look painted on his face.

The girl looked away before answering: "Hannah."

He stepped forward and in a low voice asked, as the Doctor would have done:

"Why lying?"

He caught her gaze, her green blue-shaded gaze, and looked deep into her eyes.

"Because when I tell my real name people who know the show say to me that I'm a liar."

"Oh don't worry-" started Jenna before Matt cut her off.

"Am I people? Do I even look like people?"

"No…"

"Then tell me… What is your name?"

"Melody Williams"

Matt's eyes lightened up.

"Oh well indeed that's quite a coincidence!", admitted Jenna.

"Oh no it isn't!", exclaimed Matt. "Melody, oh Melody!"

Matt faced her, smiling wide.

"Do you trust me?", he asked, and she only answered with a little nod, quite lost. "Yeah, of course you do...", he mumbled.

He put his hands on her cheeks, cupping her face, and leaned in, resting his forehead against hers, eyes locked into hers.

"Close your eyes", he ordered and she did as she was told.

She didn't know what he was going to do or why, but she trusted him, as weird as it appeared. Maybe because she admired him as the Doctor.

He closed his eyes as well and rose his lips to her forehead and whispered "Stay put" before kissing it.

As he kissed, her head suddenly fell backwards as though she was asleep, but her body stood still. His hands left her head as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him.

"Matt, what the hell is happening? What are you doing?", asked Jenna.

The staff was not moving an inch, not getting what was going on.

"I made her sleep, simple as that, Jen'!"

"What? Like some hypnosis thingy? Since when are you able to do such thing and, most of all, why?", she kept asking, her voice rising as she was not understanding what was going on either.

Still holding Melody tight against him, Matt shushed Jenna.

He looked at the red-haired girl and whispered: "Relax"

And, like a puppet, Melody obeyed, her body relaxed, lying between his arms, as if she was asleep.

Well, she was.

"Oh dear Melody Williams, unusual girl, I knew you were special…" he mumbled, smiling softly at her sleeping face. "Wake up.", he ordered and she opened her eyes to meet Matt's green ones and his smiling face.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor."

* * *

 **I hope you liked this first chapter, as said above, let me know if you want me to continue or not! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! So yeah, I thought maybe I'll post 2 or 3 more chapters so you get a better idea in order to tell me if you want me to continue or not!**

 **Since the chapter 2 is very short, I'll upload the chapter 3 soon after, but this doesn't prevent you from telling me what you think! ;)**

 **Thank you to AnimeGurl202 who followed me and to LilyMayRose who favourited the story yesterday, and of course to the people that are reading me :)**

 **Right, enough talking, I hope you'll enjoy!**

 **Melody :) - x**

* * *

 _Chapter 2_

"Oooh ok! I understand now! This is a prank, right?", said Jenna.

Matt looked at her as Melody was getting back on her feet.

"Ok Steven and you made this up yeah? Oh that was brilliant! And this girl is good!" continued Jenna, laughing now.

He frowned.

"No, no this is not a prank Jenna, this is real, I am The Doctor!"

"Ok Matt, drop the act now, I got it, but that was well done! You even put your old costume on today - now I'm getting why!"

"This is not a prank Jenna!", he said.

The door opened, letting the sound of screams flood into the room. The tall man that opened the door was security.

"Could you hurry, other people want to get in too, and it's been quite a long time since she's in here.", he said, designating Melody.

"NOT NOW!", yelled the man in a bow tie.

The door closed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Ok, let's do this.", he mumbled as he put his hand into the pocket, inside his tweed jacket.

Pulling it out, he took the sonic screwdriver and activated it.

"Ok Matt, now drop it, I'm worried about you, you are acting insane", said Jenna, uneasy.

"This is insane, and guess what? It's about to get insaner!", he answered, that little spark in his eyes. He turned to Melody, asking: "Is that a word? Nevermind, I'm under stress!"

He pointed the sonic screwdriver to an empty space and a whirring sound begins to echo.

Within seconds, a big blue box appeared, as it did in the show, and he turned to face Melody.

"Come with me."

"Ok" She replied.

"I know, this is quite quick, we only just met, but really you're unusual, I _need_ to know, so please… Wait, what did you say?"

Melody smiled. A bright smile, a smile of happiness. The first smile he saw on her face and a smile he shall never forget.

"I said ok!"

He returned with the same smile and grabbed her hand, leading her into the police blue box, followed by Jenna.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, it was very short I know but don't worry, longer chapters will follow. If you want me to continue of course. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! Hope you like it so far!**

 **So this is chapter 3, it's way longer than the two previous ones and will give you a better idea of the story. Please let me know if you like it or if you don't, if you want me to continue or not, either by posting a review or PMing me, I don't mind :) You can also ask me questions or whatever crosses your mind :)**

 **Thank you to Smuzzie and Windfee01 for the following :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody :) - x**

* * *

 _Chapter 3_

"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Jenna.

"Nope! I'm not! This is perfectly real - though it's insane, I give you that Jen'..." he said. "Anyway, phone, now!" he continued, stretching out his hand.

Jenna took her phone out of her pocket and handed it to him as he pulled a lever.

They were inside the TARDIS, a proper, real TARDIS. With the console identical to seasons 5 and 6 and it was actually bigger on the inside.

Melody and Jenna were looking around, amazed, hardly believing it was real, but actually, it was.

He, either The Doctor or Matt, not yet knowing how to designate him, was dialling a number and waiting for his correspondent to pick up the phone.

"Yeah! Steven it's me! I had to go, you know, important thing to do. Call him to replace me, no worries he knows exactly what to do. And I took Jenna with me, I will give her back to you soon, promise! Yeah, without a scratch, 'course."

He hung out and threw the phone to Jenna who caught it.

"Ok, now, explain. Everything. I don't have the faintest idea of what is bloody going on, so you explain to us! Now!" said Jenna, quite anxious.

He pulled back a lever and the room shook a little before stabilizing. He then turned to face the girls: Jenna was obviously anxious, though she seemed lost, Melody was in awe looking at the TARDIS. He straightened his bow tie and he started to talk:

"I'm The Doctor."

"No, you're Matt Smith." Jenna interrupted him.

"No I'm not, you asked for an explanation, I'm giving it to you, now shut up."

Jenna's jaw dropped open but she shut it up, listening.

"Good. I am The Doctor. I'm real, I've always existed, but not in this universe. You usually are with Matt - great guy by the way - but sometimes, very rarely, I come here to… investigate, like today at the Comic-Con. I speak to Steven about my adventures in the meantime so he can turn it into a scenario. He's brilliant."

"But that's impossible, as said in the show it's impossible to jump between universes since there are no Time Lords anymore, except The Doctor." Jenna said.

"It is indeed impossible in theory. But that's the theory. I've found this parallel universe and it appeared to be open. I didn't know why or how, so I came and I investigated. It revealed that this parallel universe is on every point similar to the other except… for the aliens. There are no aliens in your universe, well at least when I'm not there. Explaining why I do not exist in any other way than a TV show."

"Then why keep coming? There's no point for you since there's no alien threat." Jenna asked, slowly admitting that all this thing was real.

"Because one day, another alien showed up there too. And it wasn't me. This universe was perfectly hidden as a black hole, but it wasn't a black hole, merely a perception filter. I fell into it by accident, but nobody could have said it was the entry of a parallel universe. So first, I searched for reasons to hide it, and how a non-alien universe could hide behind alien technology. I've found nothing. The only explanation was that some alien discovered it and decided to... protect it."

"And then another alien found out" Jenna stated.

The Doctor pointed a finger at her.

"Yep! One day I came back and the TARDIS detected another alien presence. I tried to scan it, wanting to know where it was, what it was and if it was dangerous, but it gave me nothing. Just that it was somewhere in the United Kingdom. I pursued my research, and after a while a conclusion came up saying it wasn't dangerous: it didn't even know it was alien itself, like a genetic lock, waiting for the right moment to unlock, disguised as a human. I know some species who do that, but this one was unknown, brand new." he said.

"How long has it been there?"

"Nearly twenty one years."

"Do you think it was taken here as a… baby? And then was raised by human people?" Jenna asked.

"Possibly. Probably." he nodded.

Melody, who was silent until now, chuckled a bit before mumbling:

"Reminds me of someone…"

The Doctor walked to her:

"Who?"

"River Song." she shrugged.

"Good point, though it's not her, the TARDIS would've known."

"Ok, all this is good but what does it have to do with you at the Comic-Con, bringing myself and Melody here?" Jenna asked.

"I never told you to come, you just followed us. I asked Melody to come, not you." he said.

"Oi! That's rude!"

The Doctor looked a bit embarrassed. He turned to Melody:

"Is it?"

Melody nodded, a bit amused: that was so him.

"Sorry then." he said to Jenna. "To answer your question, recently the scanner showed me a more precise point of where it was: East London, and the Convention was taking place there, so I thought I'd have a look. I thought that maybe it would show up itself, unconsciously attracted by the sci-fi universe. But there was nothing. Then Melody came in. Melody Williams." he said, facing the red-haired girl.

She looked up at him, waiting for his explanation because honestly, she was kind of lost. Although she was happy that The Doctor was real and took her away, like in her dreams, Jenna was right: what does it have to do with her?

"You are unusual. And I love an unusual girl me, but I had to find out. You look so much like Amelia Pond, you have the same name as her daughter, but you are definitely none of them. I was hoping for a version of them in this world but you're not. Still, you're special, this is not a coincidence, it can't be. You trust me. You've never met me in the past but you trust me. Then you are the only one in this universe that I was able to access your psychic self and interact with it."

"You think she's the alien?" said Jenna.

Still facing Melody, scrutinizing her, he answered:

"No… I don't think so. Maybe she's the only psychic this universe has, that's all. If she were the alien the TARDIS would have told me."

He stepped back, returning to the console.

"Take your coat off Melody and come over here." he ordered.

She did as she was told and when she stood next to him, he took her hand, holding a strange instrument in the other.

He pulled her sleeve up, revealing the white bare skin of her arm and then held up an instrument of some sort.

"It won't hurt a bit." he said.

"You're lying." she said back.

The Doctor looked up at her, staring at her eyes.

 _K-Tchunk!_

She let out a little noise as the pain ran into her arm, but The Doctor quickly pulled her in for a hug.

"Sorry…" he said, kissing her forehead. "Are you ok?" he asked, stepping back, looking at her arm: it was ok, it was the pain caused by the needle.

She noticed he seemed rather protective.

"What was that for?" Jenna asked, coming closer to the girl. "You've hurt her!"

"It's ok Jenna…" said Melody, reassuring her.

"Just a blood analysis, nothing much don't worry." said The Doctor.

"I thought you didn't think she was the alien." stated the brunette, not understanding why he did that.

"But maybe she is. Come on, she is the only one I can make a psychic link with! Isn't it weird enough?"

Melody sat down on a seat nearby, rubbing her arm.

"But why did you say that to her then?" asked Jenna.

The Doctor sighed.

"Because if I am the alien and he says to me 'I'm going to analyse your blood and find out' the genetic lock would unlock and I'd transform and certainly protect myself by attacking you. That's what most of the aliens do, not all, but most of them, that's why: he couldn't risk it and while I realise this he can have the result of the analysis and find out if I am dangerous or not and if I have a weakness… To fight me off." Melody quickly said before looking up at The Doctor who was holding the screen. "Rule number 1: The Doctor lies."

He looked down at her with a soft look on his face.

She didn't say that out of anger. She said it as it was the most logical thing, the most normal. She saw through his plan as if it were as clear as water.

He looked back at the screen. The analysis was complete.

"So? What does it say? She obviously didn't transform into, I don't know, a giant wasp or attacked us so I suppose at least she's not dangerous." asked Jenna.

He didn't answer.

"Do you feel something new?" he slowly asked Melody.

"No…"

"Have you ever had surgery?"

"Yes, on my sixteenth birthday for an appendicitis."

"How old are you?"

"Nearly twenty one."

He turned a button on the screen, scanning her body and waiting a second before sighing.

"Doctor… Please tell me…" Melody pleaded, a worried look on her face.

The Doctor came towards her and knelt down to her height. He took her hands holding them in his and with his soft voice, said:

"Melody… I'm sorry, this is going to be hard… The blood analysis says that you… you're not human. I'm sorry. I scanned your body and it appears human, but I believe that the gen-lock is acting as a perception filter and makes it appear human, it even scrambles the TARDIS, so it was made to resist high quality rays. Your blood is made in the same way: a human analysis would see it as a normal human blood, but it is less hidden since your blood seems pretty close to human blood and analysed by the TARDIS it reveals that you are not human."

Melody was becoming pale as the information came through her mind.

The Doctor held up his hand, stroking her cheek.

"Breath." he said softly.

And she had indeed stopped breathing, so she took a deep breath, did as she was told.

"What am I then…?" she asked faintly, her eyes locked into The Doctor's.

"I don't know... The TARDIS searched in all her data but she couldn't find anything. The only thing she could find was the two closest species."

"What are they?" she asked.

"Oh my God…" they heard Jenna whisper near them as she looked at the screen.

Still holding his gaze, The Doctor said:

"One is human, the other is… it's…" he stammered out. It was obviously hard for him to say it, as if he couldn't believe it. "...It's Time Lord…" he finally managed to say.

Melody finally looked up to see the screen showing the two species.

"But… But that's not possible, I'm not a Time Lord, definitely not."

"No I don't believe you are. But you are not human either."

"Maybe she's part human part Time Lord, you know, like Donna." proposed Jenna.

"No, impossible, Donna became The DoctorDonna after the metacrisis: Melody is born this way, she hasn't been transformed." he said standing up and facing the console. "She's not both Human and Time Lord, she's none of them, she's something… in between, and I don't know what. As long as the gen-lock is, well, locked, I can't access her real DNA." The Doctor said.

They heard a sob behind them. They turned around to see Melody crying:

"So that's what I am then, isn't it? A _thing_? You're saying that I am an alien, born in another universe, brought and raised here as a human? So what about my parents? My family? They're not really my parents right? What am I? What am I then?! Am I just… just a story? Is that it?!" she cried.

They rushed to her, The Doctor holding her tight against him and Jenna patting her back gently.

"We're all stories in the end…" he said softly to her. "I wish I could tell you what you are but I can't. You're not a thing, you're an amazing girl and I promise you that we will find out what you are, together. I know it's hard, and I'm sorry, but it's the only thing we can do: we have to wait…ok?"

She took a deep breath and nodded.

He held her for a few minutes more, giving her time to calm down.

She closed her eyes as she could hear the beating of the Time Lord's two hearts in his chest. It was reassuring. His hugs felt good.

Within a minute she calmed down but she didn't move, appreciating the moment and clearing her thoughts: The Doctor was real, he was really an alien, the TARDIS was real too, everything was real. And he was hugging her. This made her heart jump, the Whovian inside her not knowing where to put all the feels.

But in a counterpart she was an alien too, and they didn't know what kind of alien. All her life was made up: her parents were not her true parents, same for the rest of her family.

"Hum...Doctor? Doctor?" whispered Jenna, trying to get his attention as he seemed to be lost in his thoughts as well.

"Mh?"

Melody could feel his head turning to where Jenna might have been and his hot breath leaving her neck.

"What shall we do now?" the brunette asked.

He turned his head back and he lifted a hand to Melody's head, placing it on her red hair.

Suddenly a voice filled her head, The Doctor's voice, making her blench a little in surprise.

That was feeling weird.

 _"Are you ok? Just think."_

 _"Hum… Yeah, better thanks, you can let go if that's what you're asking."_

She heard him let out a small chuckle as he released her.

He went back to the console and looked at the scan one last time before clearing it.

"I can't do anything until her gen-lock is unlocked. I'm taking you back home, both of you. Phone!." he said to Jenna. He took it as she handed it to him and dialled a number. "I'm bringing Jenna back, all clear?"

He waited a moment, listening, before saying:

"Ok, coming." and he hung up. He pulled a lever and the TARDIS shook as she was taking off with a whirring sound. Soon she stabilized and he pulled the lever back.

They all stepped out of the TARDIS to walk in the room of the Convention, empty except for the man standing in front of them: he was wearing the outfit with the purple coat.

Matt Smith, the real one.

He smiled a bit and turned to Jenna:

"So, where did he take you?"

"Actually nowhere, not really, but we didn't leave the TARDIS." The Doctor cut in. "Had an important thing to do. Anyway, good job Matt, thanks, always a pleasure! Nice outfit by the way, I might take it someday."

"No problem Doctor, see you soon then. And look after her." Matt said pointing at Melody.

"He's taking me home too." she said, a bit of sadness in her voice.

The Doctor smiled bitterly. He didn't really want to leave her: she was a mystery and he would have liked to keep an eye on her.

They headed back to the TARDIS, but as she was going to step inside, Matt called her:

"Hey! What's your name?"

"Melody." she said, giving him a smile.

"Nice to meet you" he said, smiling back. "Take care ok?"

Melody nodded and waved to Matt and Jenna before closing the door behind her.

The TARDIS landed in a street between a park and a row of houses.

"Yeah, that fits with the signal I had before…" The Doctor said before turning the screen off. "So this is where you live?"

"Yeah. With my foster family…" Melody answered with a sad chuckle.

"Hey…" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and seeking for eye contact. "They'll always be your family, you may not have the same DNA but they're your parents, they raised you, they gave you everything you needed, and most of all they love you, don't they?"

She nodded. He was right: they loved her and she loved them as well and that was what mattered.

She looked around at the console room, a twinge in her heart: she discovered it was all real, she was expecting to see the whole of time and space, but he was taking her home. She couldn't help but ask herself why.

"Am I ever to see you again?" she asked with a trembling voice, not ready to give it up.

Hearing that, his eyes widened.

"Of course! It's just that I can't keep you here in the TARDIS while the gen-lock is locked. I think that it might unlock soon but it won't if you stay near me: I'd be detected as a threat and it'll try to protect you. But as soon as it unlocks, I'll come back, I have a sample of your blood, the TARDIS will track you and bring me to you, I promise." he said, smiling.

She sighed in relief and smiled back. They then stepped outside and he gave her one last hug, kissing her forehead one last time before letting her go.

* * *

 **Hope you liked it, let me know! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Ooh late update I know (well at least for me it's late), sorry, though I doubt someone is really waiting for it? Anyway! So this is chapter 4!**

 **I don't have much to say here today, just that I hope you'll like it and please I would _really_ appreciate some feedback because right now I feel like walking blindfolded into a complete black out!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 4_

"Happy birthday sweetheart!" a woman shouted, bursting into the room.

A young girl jumped, surprised, as she was asleep.

She sat up, her hair cut to her neck and messy.

"Mum it's…" she started, in protestation, but then she sighed and smiled. "Thank you."

She gave a hug to her mother before she left the room. Once alone, she looked at herself in the mirror: red, messy hair, green blue-shaded eyes, pale skin. Just a normal girl.

Today was her birthday, she was turning twenty one and everybody yet was sending text messages to her saying "hey big girl now! You're an adult! We'll be able to go have some beer now!"

She smiled a bit and threw her phone on her bed, not caring much to "have some beer". She got herself ready and went downstairs to be welcomed by her father and a yummy breakfast. The afternoon was passed making a cake with her mother and her little cousins when around 3pm a headache struck her. She went upstairs to have some medicine: this headache was not going to spoil her birthday! She swallowed the pill and passing her room she saw her phone's LED light flashing. She took the phone, looking she had many missed calls from a number she didn't know.

Shrugging, she slipped it into her pocket and returned downstairs.

It's been a little bit more than a month since she met the Doctor, and she never spoke a word of it. Not even to her friend, Jaz, who was a Whovian too. He still hadn't come back and she started to wonder if he will: after all they didn't know when her gen-lock would unlock, it could take years. She should have asked for a way to keep in touch with him.

As she helped her cousins put the icing on the cake, the doorbell rang. Her mother went to open the door.

" _Might be Gran"_ Melody thought.

"Melody!" her mother's voice called.

"Yeah coming!"

She walked towards the entry, licking the icing off her finger and froze when her eyes laid upon the person standing on the doorstep.

"This young man says he's a friend of yours" the voice of her mother echoed, as if she were far, far away.

He came back! The Doctor came back! He was there, on her doorstep!

"I think I've already seen you somewhere, haven't I?" said her mother to him, snapping her back to reality.

"Yeah he's one of my friends, er his name is… hum…"

She didn't know what to answer, giving a confused look at the Doctor.

"Matt!" he cut in. "Matt Smith! Nice to meet you!"

He gave air kisses to her mother and stepped inside, smiling at Melody.

"Happy birthday!" he exclaimed before hugging her. "You ok?" he whispered into her ear.

His question struck her: he was worried about her. She nodded and he let go of her, greeting the rest of her family, except the children who were now playing in the back garden.

She tried to keep him out of trouble, not wanting her family to think he was a weird one, so remembering the episode "The Lodger" where he proved to be a good cook, she took him with her into the kitchen.

"Don't worry mum, just… go have a seat and rest for a bit, he's a good cook, we're going to finish this quickly. Oh and turn the telly on, Jamie and Nina want to watch something - didn't hear what though." Melody said before returning to her cake.

"They're nice people." said The Doctor

"Yes, they are." answered the red haired girl, smiling softly.

"I tried to call you but I think I got the wrong number, you never answered."

"That was you! Sorry, just missed the calls and didn't recognize the number."

He nodded while pouring some flour into a bowl. He was making scones.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye: she seemed normal, nothing new.

Children burst into the living room, laughing, on the point of watching the telly, not noticing the man with a bow tie in the kitchen.

Melody and the Doctor could hear them from the kitchen asking their aunt for something.

"Did you notice anything special lately?" he asked.

"Nope, everything is normal." she smiled. Then she stopped, and turned to face him, a suspicious look on her face. "Why?"

"Nothing! Let's enjoy the day!" he exclaimed playfully.

"I knew I've seen him somewhere!" a voice exclaimed.

"See! I was right!"

Then there was a confused noise before her whole family ran into the kitchen. Melody and the Doctor froze.

"Oh my God it's Matt Smith! Mum! Dad! It's Matt Smith! He plays the Doctor!" cried Jamie.

"And he's the friend of cousin Melody! How cool is that!" Nina exclaimed.

They looked at each other.

"Is he your boyfriend?" asked the little girl.

"...Yeah it's him and erm no he's not my boyfriend, just a friend that's all. And keep it shut please, nobody has to know he's here ok? Just between us!"

Everybody nodded.

* * *

Few hours later, as the night had fallen, they were all sitting around the table, singing 'happy birthday' to Melody.

She smiled shyly as she waited for them to end the song so she could blow the candles. As they ended, the Doctor who was next to her spoke up:

"Make a wish!" and he gave her a knowing wink.

She thought of a wish and blew out the candles.

Then she opened the presents her family had given her, thanking everybody.

"Didn't you bring anything? What kind of friend are you?" Nina asked the Doctor.

Everybody turned around, looking at him.

"Hum, well, a present, of course." he said, embarrassed. "My present... is to make her wish come true!"

Her family smiled: that was cute.

"But that's impossible, if she says it to you then it can't come true, and if she doesn't tell you, how would you know?" continued the girl.

"I'm magic!" he said simply. "Plus I already know her wish - and by the way it's yes Melody."

"Really? Can I?" Melody said, facing him, full of hope.

"Of course! Now, you're all very nice but do you mind if I fulfil her wish? She wants to travel, so off we go!"

* * *

Melody kissed her family and promised to call them. Then she turned away, the Doctor's arm around her shoulders, and waved one last time before turning the corner of the street.

There the TARDIS was waiting.

"Ready?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah!"

He held his hand before him and snapped his fingers: the door opened and they stepped inside.

* * *

 **More DoctorxMelody in the next chapter! Share your thoughts on the story with me! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello you beautiful people! (yes you are!) First things first: thank you very much to Lily for her review, that was very very nice thank you!**

 **Then: as you can see, this is chapter 5, last chapter before starting an episode rewriting (which may not change much as it will be Melody's first time.) and I hope you will like it.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody :) - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 5_

"So?"

The Doctor looked up.

"What?" he asked, while typing some coordinates.

"Last time you said you'd come back when my gen-lock unlocked. I would have accepted the fact you'd come for my birthday in good faith, but taking me with you? It was supposed to hold the lock. So?"

He smiled.

"Clever!" he said, pointing a finger at her. "Your gen-lock has indeed unlocked."

He walked alongside the console until he stood in front of her. Resting himself against it, he crossed his arms.

"Are you ready?"

"Didn't you already have my blood? You should know by now." Melody said.

He shook his head.

"I promised to you that we'll find out together, so I waited for you - and it was hard believe me."

He stretched a hand, grabbed her arm and pulling up the sleeve of her sweater looked closely at her pale skin. "No variation of the skin…" he muttered while touching it lightly with his fingertips, causing some shivers to run along her spine.

"You're not going to lick me, are you?" she asked, slightly amused remembering him licking things every now and then in the show.

He straightened up, looking embarrassed.

"Would it look inconvenient…?" he asked. She nodded. "Well then no of course I'd look silly!" he said before turning to the screen. He turned it on and an image of Melody's body appeared, as on x-ray. On the right of the screen, her blood analysis appeared as well. The Doctor typed something and a DNA chain appeared instead of the blood composition. He typed again, making the screen scrambled for a second before showing the final images. They both leaned in, looking closely at the screen.

Her body was as human as possible: one heart, lungs, kidneys, everything normal.

"I don't understand…" he whispered. He then looked at the DNA. "Human...plus Time Lord…"

His eyes left the screen to look at Melody. "What are you…? Who are you…?"

"Doctor, I can't be part Time Lord, this just doesn't make any sense. I mean… look at me! I'm just a normal girl, that's all." she said with a trembling voice.

"Oh no no no, you're anything but normal! And you're not part Time Lord, you're human plus Time Lord." he said. "The only person I know with this kind of DNA is River, Melody Pond, but _you_ , you are Melody Williams. River was turned into a weapon to kill me, but you… what's your purpose…?"

Melody stepped away from him, trembling and afraid. What was she? Was she a weapon like River? She wouldn't let that happen, she wouldn't kill the Doctor, never.

The Doctor tried to get closer, wanting to comfort her but she stepped away.

"No! Don't… don't touch me, don't get closer. I don't want to harm you."

"Why would you?" he asked, frowning. He didn't say she was dangerous, why was she afraid?

"Because if I'm like River, maybe I was born to kill you, and I won't let that happen!" she answered, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was all too much for her, she could not keep her calm as she was facing the fact that all her life was a lie while what she thought was not real was actually the only real thing happening to her. And now all her anxiety was flowing out with those tears.

His jaw clenched a little and he walked quickly towards her, grabbing her wrist to pull her into a tight hug.

"I won't let you get away from me." he whispered in her ear. "Maybe someone wanted to turn you into a weapon against me, maybe not, but whoever they are, whatever their purpose is, I got to you first. I won't let them take you away from me." he continued, his voice becoming deeper and darker, like when he's the Oncoming Storm. He faced her, wiping her tears away and resting his hands on her cheeks. "You were raised in a loving family, in an alien-free universe except for TV shows. We will find out what you are, together, but you can't be a weapon, you're not an object of hatred, you got that?"

Melody nodded, calming down, thinking her reaction was really stupid.

"Right." he said, straightening up. "So, now. Let's see Amy and Rory!" he exclaimed, smiling.

Amy and Rory?

Melody ran to the console, eyes wide.

"Amy and Rory? The Ponds? But…" she stopped. Amy and Rory were dead, they were touched by a weeping angel in Manhattan, he was supposed to be with Clara now. "Doctor...what just happened to you? I mean, before you came to the Convention, what did you do?"

A dark look shadowed his face.

"The battle of Demons Run…And I kind of hoped to find baby River here... But I found you instead!" he answered. Then, noticing the strangeness of the question, he asked: "Why?"

She wondered if she could answer without giving out foreknowledge.

"Because the show takes place in your future now, Demons Run was on telly… two years ago for us."

"Wibbly wobbly... timey wimey" he only said, waving her off.

Ok, so he just found out who River was at the battle of Demons Run. But that meant… She looked suddenly up to the Doctor as he was doing exactly the same, figuring out what it meant.

"You know my future, don't you?"

She nodded: "It seems like I do…"

"You have foreknowledge! That's brilliant! Melody, I do hope that you'll know how to use it because you'll have to use it very wisely: some things are fixed, they must happen or it would change all the universe, ok? I don't know how much Time Lord skills you have but I hope you have the consciousness of time flux. I guess I'll have to trust you to not blow up the universe." he said, smiling softly before kissing her forehead. "You are brilliant - a complete mystery but brilliant!"

She smiled: that was her purpose, she was going to use her foreknowledge to help people, to help the Doctor.

* * *

 **Hope it was ok and that you like this story so far :) Let me know :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! Thank you to my new follower who also favourited the story: CalicoKitty402, to Lily for her support and all of you, you invisible readers ^_^**

 **So this is chapter 6 and we start the rewritings: for now it won't change much as this is just the beginning, but then Melody will try to intervene a bit more.**

 **Hope, as always, that you'll enjoy it :)**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 6_

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor stepped out, holding a newspaper which headline was 'Leadworth's crop-circle'.

"Seriously?!" he asked to the red haired girl and the blonde man who were standing there, in the middle of a crop field near a mini car. Amy and Rory.

"You never answer your phone!" Rory said.

"You've had all summer." Amy said, walking closer. "Have you found her? Have you found Melody?"

Still in the TARDIS, hiding behind the door ajar, Melody shivered hearing Amy saying her name although she was talking about River, not her.

The Doctor threw a quick look behind him, thinking about the Melody inside, before asking Rory:

"Permission?"

"Granted." he said.

"You know who she grows up to be." he said, hugging her. "So you know I _will_ find her."

"But you haven't yet." Amy said, worried.

"Hang on, what's this bit?" Rory cut in.

The Doctor and Amy went to look at the newspaper. They had written "Doctor" in the corn field with their car but a line was crossing the word.

"That wasn't us." Amy said.

The Doctor took the newspaper from Rory's hand, searching the right direction. Suddenly, they heard a noise, the noise of an engine: a red sport car was heading right towards them. They screamed and tried to avoid it. The car stopped, inches away from the TARDIS and a young black woman stepped out.

"You said he was funny, you never said he was hot!" she said, looking at the Doctor lying on the ground, trying to get up.

"Mels?!" said Rory.

"What are you doing here?" asked Amy.

"Following you, what do you think?" the girl named Mels answered.

"Hum… Where did you get the car? Rory said, suspicious.

"It's mine...ish."

They heard police cars coming nearer.

"Mels, not again…" said the red haired girl.

"You can't keep doing this!" Rory scolded her. "You'll end up in prison."

Finally getting up, the Doctor cut in:

"Sorry, hello, Doctor not following this, Doctor very lost. You never said I was hot!"

"Is that the phone box? The bigger-on-the-inside phone box?" Mels asked before he could get an answer.

Inside, Melody took a few steps away while Mels was running her hands on the door.

"Time travel, that's just brilliant. I've heard a lot about you. I'm their best mate."

"And why don't I know you?" asked the Doctor, leaning against the frame of the blue box. "I danced with everyone at the wedding. The women were all brilliant, the men...were a bit shy…"

"I don't do weddings." Mels said, stepping away. "And that's me, out of time." she added, turning around to face The Doctor, pulling out a gun and pointing it at him.

He held his hands up.

"Mels! What are you doing?" Amy an Rory shouted.

"I need a out of here, now!"

"Anywhere in particular?" the Doctor asked, surprised.

"Well, let's see… you've got a time machine, I've got a gun." Mels said. "What the hell, let's kill Hitler!"

* * *

 **See you next chapter! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! Thank you everybody for the views and reviews, keep them coming and do not hesitate to make some constructive remarks! Thank you to BellChellType40, DrReid4Life, maraudegirl15 and MadMedic for the faves and follows :)**

 **So here is chapter 7, it is longer than the previous one which, I know - sorry - was very short.**

 **Hope you'll like it!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 7_

"Doctor, who's this?" Amy asked after entering the TARDIS with Rory, Mels and the Doctor. She was looking at a red haired girl, hiding behind the console.

The Doctor smiled and walked towards her. Passing his arms around the girl's shoulders he led her in front of them. Amy and Rory looked at each other: she looked a lot like Amy but with short hair. They could have been sisters.

"Her name is Melody Williams." said the Doctor calmly.

"This is not funny Doctor." Amy said with a bitter tone. She was on the point of slapping him.

"This is not a joke Amelia. She's not your daughter, she's not Melody Pond, she's Melody Williams. She's from a parallel universe and she's a mystery. She knows things. I'll explain later." he said before going to the console and entering the coordinates Mels asked for.

"I'm sorry Amy, it must be hard for you to… know me… but…" Melody looked quickly at Mels. "I promise you that the Doctor will find your daughter, and so will you."

"What do you know?" Amy said, looking coldly at Melody. She didn't trust her.

"Today, you see your daughter." Melody said before heading to the console.

Suddenly a loud noise echoed.

"You shot it! You shot my TARDIS! shouted the Doctor while the TARDIS was shaking in every direction. "You shot the console!"

"It's your fault!" said Mels.

"How is it my fault?!"

"You said guns didn't work in this place! You said we're in a state of temporal grace!" she shouted as everybody was grabbing something to hang on to while the Doctor was trying to fix the console.

"That was a clever lie, Mels!" Melody yelled.

"See, anyone could tell that was a clever lie!" the Doctor added.

The TARDIS shook even harder before stabilizing. Then smoke started to fill the console room.

"Out, out, out! Everybody out!" said the Doctor, opening the door and getting out. "Don't breath the smoke!"

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"A room!"

"What room?" Rory said.

"I don't know I haven't memorised every room in the universe! I had yesterday off!" the Doctor answered. "Mels don't go in there! Bad smoke! Don't breath the bad bad smoke, bad deadly smoke, because somebody shot my TARDIS!"

"Doctor, this man, I think he's hurt" Rory cut in, kneeling with Amy near a Nazi lying on the floor. "No, hang on… No he's fine…"

That man was a Teselecta, Melody remembered that.

Not knowing what to do with Mels' gun, the Doctor put it in a fruit basket on a desk.

All the room was decorated with dark wooden furniture in a ancient style, like in a castle.

Melody couldn't believe it: she was actually travelling with the Doctor, Amy and Rory! And Mels! She remembered this episode, it was "Let's kill Hitler". She had foreknowledge, she could help, ok, but at the moment, she didn't have the faintest idea of what to do.

She stepped near the Doctor as she heard a groan coming behind the desk. Another Nazi was getting up, and she knew who it was…

"Doctor…" she started.

"Oh, hello! Sorry, is this your office? Had a sort of collision with my vehicle, faults on both sides, let's say no more about…" he stopped talking, his voice fading when he recognized the person who was standing in front of him. Amy and Rory came closer. "...It."

"Is that…?" Amy started. "No it can't be Doctor?"

"Thank you." said the man with a little black moustache. " Whoever you are, I think you have just saved my life."

"Believe me… It was an accident." the Doctor said.

Turning to the TARDIS, Hitler - because it was him - asked:

"What is this thing?"

"What did he mean we saved his life? We could not have saved Hitler." Amy quickly said.

"You see? You see, time travel, it never goes to plan." the Doctor said, turning to Mels.

"It was not her fault Doctor, we're in the wrong year, Hitler nearly died before his hour. Technically, Mels just saved History." said Melody, low enough for Hitler not to hear it.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"This box…" Hitler spoke up. "What is it?"

The Doctor turned to face him, a dark look on his face.

"It's a police box from London, England. That's right, Adolf, the British are coming!"

Hitler's eyes widened as the Teselecta Nazi was getting up behind the Doctor.

"No, stop him!" he shouted before pulling out his gun.

The Doctor ducked as Hitler shot the robot four times before Rory punched him.

Of course nobody knew the man was a Teselecta robot yet except for Melody.

Rory took the gun from Hitler and pointed it at him.

"Sit still, shut up."

"Are you ok?" Amy asked, running to the robot.

"Yes" he answered. "I'm fine, I think he missed."

"He was going to kill me!" said Hitler, defending himself.

"Shut up!" Rory ordered.

Remembering what happened next, Melody ran to Mels, helping her stand while the Doctor told Rory to put Hitler in the cupboard. He then came near the Nazi, asking him if he was ok.

He just fainted in answer.

"I think he just fainted" Rory said.

"Yes… That was a faint… A perfect faint…" the Doctor mumbled.

Amy then noticed Melody supporting Mels who was holding her stomach.

"Mels?"

"Hitler…"

"What about him?" asked the Doctor.

"Lousy shot." Mels answered before falling. Melody helped her lying down while the others rushed to her.

"No no no!"

"I've got to stop the bleeding!" Rory said.

"How bad is it Rory? What can we do?" Amy asked.

"Just keep her conscious! Stay with us Mels!" the nurse said.

"Hey. Look at me, just hold on." the Doctor encouraged Mels.

"I used to dream about you." she said, fighting against the pain. "All those stories Amy told me. When I was little, I was going to marry you…"

"Good idea, let's get married. You live and I'll marry you, deal?" said the Doctor, hoping she will live.

Melody smiled. She knew that her dream would come true.

"Shouldn't you ask my parents permission? the black woman said in a chuckle.

"Soon as you're well, I'll get them on the phone."

"Might as well do it now, since they're both right here…"

They all looked at each other, a thought slowly making its way through their mind.

"Penny in the air…" she started as the Doctor realized. Her hands suddenly started glowing with a golden light. "Penny drops."

"What the hell's going on?" Rory asked.

"Back! Back! Get back!" the Doctor shouted. They all stepped back from Mels as she got up.

"Last time I did this I ended up a toddler. In the middle of New York." she said.

"Ok Doctor, explain what is happening? Please!" Amy said, a bit panicked to see her childhood friend regenerating just like the Doctor.

"Mels…" he started.

"Short for Melody." Melody said.

"Yeah I named my daughter after her." Amy said.

"You named your daughter… after your daughter." the Doctor said carefully.

"Took me years to find you two." Mels said to Amy and Rory. " I'm so glad I did. And you see, it all worked out in the end, didn't it? You got to raise me after all."

"You're Melody?" Amy said.

"But, if she's Melody, that means she's also…" Rory started.

"Shut up Dad!" Mels cut in. "I'm focussing on a dress size!"

Melody, behind the Doctor reached his ear and whispered:

"The gun…"

And suddenly golden rays of light soared from her hands and head. She screamed as she regenerated and soon it was over: River Song was 'born'.

She panted a little before observing her new body.

"The hair!" she exclaimed, running to a mirror. "The hair! It just doesn't stop, does it? Look at that! Everything changes! Oh but I love it. I love it! I'm all sort of...mature. Hello Benjamin!" she said placing a foot on a couch near her.

The Doctor awkwardly hid his eyes behind his hand before looking again, confused:

"Who's Benjamin?"

"The teeth! The teeth! Oh look at them!" River exclaimed before rushing to the Doctor, pinning him against the desk behind him. "Watch out that bow tie!" she turned around "Excuse me you lot, I need to weight myself!"

She ran out of the room like a hurricane leaving her parents and the Doctor incredulous. Melody giggled a bit, seeing their faces.

"That's Melody…" Amy said.

"See Amy, I told you that you'd see your daughter today." she said with a wink.

Amy nodded. If the Doctor trusted that girl then maybe she should do the same, she thought.

"That's… River Song…" Rory stammered.

Showing her head through the door frame, River asked, making all heads turn:

"Who's River Song?"

"Spoilers." awkwardly said the Doctor.

"Spoilers? What's spoilers?" she asked before gasping and running off again. "Hang on, just something I have to check!"

"Is anybody else finding this day just a bit difficult?" Rory said. "I'm getting a sort of banging in my head."

"Yeah I think that's Hitler in the cupboard." Amy said.

"That's not helping."

"This isn't the River Song we know yet." the Doctor cut in.

"No this is her right at the start, she doesn't even know her name." Melody spoke up, walking with them.

"Oh! That's magnificent!" they heard River exclaim. They turned around to see she had returned. "I'm going to wear a lot of jodhpurs! Well now enough of all that. Down to business!"

She pulled out a gun and pointed it at the Doctor.

Melody gasped. She remembered: the Doctor will die today. And he will suffer.

"Oh hello. I thought we were getting married." he said.

"I told you, I'm not a wedding person."

"What's she doing?" asked Rory as River was walking up to face the Time Lord.

"What she's programmed to…" said Melody with a trembling voice.

"But where did she get the gun?"

"Hello Benjamin…" he mumbled.

"You noticed." River said with a smile. She fired, but nothing happened.

"Of course I noticed, thanks to Melody here - thanks for the tip dear. As soon as I knew you were coming, I tidied up a bit."

"I know you did." She said dropping the gun and slipping a hand in her jacket to pull out another gun.

"I know you know" the Doctor said, smiling, watching her pulling out a banana.

"Goodness, is killing you going to take all day?"

"Why? Are you busy?" he asked, taking the banana.

"Oh, I'm not complaining!"

River took a knife to open letters on the desk from behind her and attacked, but Melody stepped in between her and the Doctor.

"Melody don't!" he shouted.

She ignored him.

The blade made a cut in her cheek as she tried to avoid it, but then she managed to grab River's hand and pressing her fingers on a nerve, she forced her to drop the knife before stepping back next to the Doctor.

"If you were in a hurry, you could have killed him in the cornfield." she said.

"We'd only just met!" River answered. "I'm a psychopath, I'm not rude."

As everybody turned around, she pointed the gun at him, but then again, nothing happened. The Doctor held out the ammo and blew it like it was a gun.

"You were not a psychopath!" Amy pleaded before asking the Doctor: "Why would she be a psychopath?"

"Oh Mummy, Mummy pay attention." she said as her and the Time Lord started to walk round each other. "I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor."

"Demons Run, remember? This is what they were building." Melody said.

"My bespoke psychopath." the Doctor said, now facing River.

"I'm all yours, sweetie." she said, giving him a kiss.

Melody closed her eyes, sighing: that was it…

"Only River Song gets to call me that."

"And who's River Song?"

"An old friend of mine."

"Stupid name." River said, stepping away, heading for the window. "Oh look at that! Berlin on the eve of war. A whole world about to tear itself apart. Now that's my kind of town. Mum, Dad, don't follow me, and yes, that is a warning."

"No warning for me then?" the Doctor asked, smiling.

She turned around.

"No need my love. The deed is done, and so are you."

He made a step in her direction but he fell. Melody rushed to support him.

"Doctor!"

"River!" he called, holding a hand to his hearts. "What have you done?"

"Oh River, River, River! More than a friend I think. It was never going to be a gun for you, Doctor. The man of peace, who understands every kind of warfare, except, perhaps, the cruellest."

"She poisoned you, Doctor, when she kissed you." Melody said to him, hardly containing herself from the pain she felt for she knew what was going to happen.

"Kiss, kiss!" River said before jumping out of the window.

"I'm fine." the Doctor said to his companions. "Well, no, I'm dying. But I've got a plan."

"What plan?" Amy asked quickly, ready to help.

"I'm not dying. See, fine!" he said. Getting up he gave Amy his screwdriver. "Take this, the TARDIS can home in on it. Now go, get after her!"

"Amy, go with Rory I'm staying." Melody said.

"No Melody you go with them!" the Doctor told her, while struggling to head to the TARDIS.

"No! I'm not leaving you alone! I can help! There's no way you make me change my mind, I'm staying with you." she said. She supported the Doctor, both entering the TARDIS, coughing because of the smoke. "Extractor fans on!" she shouted.

The fans quickly cleared the air.

"Oh that works?" the Doctor said, impressed.

Melody led him to a seat near the console.

"I'm going to need an interface" he said. "Voice interface. Come on, emergency."

A hologram of him appeared: "Voice interface enabled."

"No no no, give me someone I like."

The hologram changed to show Rose.

"Oh thanks! Give me guilt!"

It changed to show Martha.

"Also guilt!"

It changed to show Donna.

"More guilt!" he exclaimed, in pain. "Come on, there must be someone left in the universe I haven't screwed up yet."

"Voice interface enabled." said Melody's voice.

Her and the Doctor looked up: the hologram was showing Melody on the Comic-Con day. She looked at him.

"Melody Williams… my sweet little Melody before you knew I exist."

"I'm not Melody Williams, I'm a voice interface."

Melody, still looking at the Doctor spoke up:

"Voice interface disabled." and she knelt near him. "I told you I could help, see." she said with a soft, but sad smile. "You have been contaminated by the poison of the Judas tree, you have only thirty two minutes left. There's no cure and it has disabled your regenerating system, I'm sorry Doctor…"

"Melody Williams… Please, help me…" he said before letting out a loud cry of pain. "I can be brave for you but you have got to tell me how… Melody… Please…"

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked into his eyes full of pain. She couldn't bear it, she couldn't

stand to see him in so much pain and she would do anything to help him. Before all this, whenever she felt sad she would look up and wish he existed, she would watch episodes because he was making her feel better. He helped her and now it was her turn to help him and she did not know what to do. Her Doctor, her best friend.

He raised a hand and wiped her tears away, his jaw clenched and his eyes suddenly lightened with a new flame.

"Crying over me eh? Well I'm never letting you get hurt again!" he said, crawling to the console, pulling down a lever. "Never again!"

* * *

 **Hope you liked it, let me know and see you next chapter! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in two days, I was very busy (moving out and in) and I thought maybe I would slow down a bit in the publishing because I'll run out of written chapters very soon otherwise ^_^**

 **So, anyway, here comes chapter 7! Thank you Lily for your support! And thank you SlytherinHolmes, Stormyfalcon, LittleDixie and Rachaelme for the favourites and follows! Keep the reviews coming and share if you think some of your Whovian friends may like it :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 8_

"Sorry, did you say she killed the Doctor? the Doctor? Doctor who…?" the voice of the Doctor rose up.

In a great and posh restaurant, he was leaning against the TARDIS, Melody leaning against it on the other side. He had changed his clothes for a black and white suit and a top hat, like the one he wore at Amy and Rory's wedding.

He has just interrupted the Teselecta robot now in the form of Amy as it was killing River.

"You're dying!" exclaimed River. "And you stopped to change!"

"Ah you should always waste time when you don't have any!" he said smiling, walking towards her and playing with a cane. "Time is _not_ the boss of you, rule 408. Now Amelia Pond, judgement death machine. Why am I not surprised?" he said, facing the Teselecta. He held up is cane, opening it. "Sonic cane!"

"Are you serious?" River said.

"Never knowingly." he answered while scanning the robot. "Never knowingly be serious, rule 27. You might want to write these down." he faced the machine. "A robot! Worked by tiny people, 423 tiny people. Love it! My friend Melody here told me who you are… the Teselecta. Amy, if you and Rory are ok, signal me."

His cane soon made some beeping.

"Thanking you." he smiled before letting out a loud scream of pain and falling. Melody rushed to support him and led him to the stairs where he could sit. "Sorry, leg went to sleep. Just had a quick left leg power nap, I forgot I had one scheduled. Actually, better sit down, I think I heard the right one yawning."

River suddenly tried to run away, but the Teselecta held her with a field of some sort.

"Don't you touch her! Do not harm her in any way!" he yelled.

The robot stopped, just holding her in a bubble and faced him:

"Why would you care? She is the women who kills you."

"He's not dead yet!" Melody spoke up.

"He's dying."

"Well, at least I'm not a time-travelling-shape-shifting-robot operated by miniaturised cross people, which, I have got to admit, I didn't see coming. She kills me right, ok, but what does that have to do with you?" the Doctor said with a wide smile. "You got yourselves time travel, so, according to my friend here, you decided to punish dead people."

"We don't kill them, we extract them near the end of their established timelines. Then we give them hell." the robot answered.

"I'd ask you who do you think you are but the answer is pretty obvious, so who do you think I am?" he said. He rose his cane, pointing to River. "The woman who kills the Doctor. It sounds like you've got my biography, I'd love a peek."

"Our records office is sealed to the public. Foreknowledge is dangerous."

"Yeah right, for your information Melody here knows everything, so if you don't answer me I'll just have to ask her. Plus I'll be dead in three minutes, there isn't much foreknowledge left."

The robot didn't answer during few seconds. Then it said "Records available."

The Doctor got up, Melody still on his side, his arm around her shoulders.

"Question. I'm dying, who wants me dead?"

"The Silence." the robot answered.

"What is the Silence?" the Doctor asked. "Why is it called like that? What does it mean?"

"The Silence is not a species. It is a religious order, or movement. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked."

"What question?"

"The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight."

"Yes but what is the question?" the Doctor insisted.

"Unknown."

"Well, fat lot of use that is, you big ginge! Call yourself a Records-argh!" he fell down to his knees, the poison burning through his veins. "Kidneys are always the first to quit! I've had better you know." he panted.

The light holding River suddenly became red and she screamed. They were extracting her. What could she do? The Doctor was into too much pain to talk, she had to do it instead, make Amy and Rory move.

Melody faced the robot:

"Amy, Rory, she's your daughter! Stop them! Point and think!" she said. The field holding River vanished. Melody ran to her, putting her hands on her shoulders. "Now please, you have to save your parents. Don't run. I know you're scared, but never run when you're scared. Rule 7."

"Doctor help us! Melody! Please help us!" the Teselecta called. Amy and Rory were inside, trapped by the security system. Amy disabled the bracelet that granted them free access to the Teselecta. Now floating jellyfish-like robots were chasing them inside, trying to kill them.

The Doctor opened his eyes and got up. Melody rushed to him as River sat down on a chair nearby. "He still cares…" she said.

"Doctor please, sit down, save your strength" Melody said, making him lie down again. She knelt next to him, brushing his hair back with one hand, holding his hand with the other. Tears started to stream down her cheeks. She turned to River. "Please...help him… save your parents."

* * *

 **Hope you liked it, let me know :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello there! Hope you are all alright! After a very busy week-end (sorry), here comes chapter 8!**

 **Views and viewers numbers are getting very low, so I suppose I'll get back to publish a chapter a day as much as I can (and if I have some feedback and result by doing so because I won't waste hours of sleep while working early next morning to publish on time if no-one cares! ^_^)**

 **As I said, I was very busy and I didn't looked at the names of the new follows/faves but whoever you are: thank you!**

 **Now then, enough of small talk! I hope, as ever, that you will enjoy this chapter :)**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 9_

"It's ok Doctor, she's going to save them, I know that."

"Melody… Crying over me… again." the Doctor said faintly. "I promised myself that nothing would hurt you again, that I'd protect you… but I've failed. Even worse, I am the cause of your grief. I'm sorry…"

"Shut up." Melody cut in. "Don't say that."

A whirring noise echoed and the TARDIS landed. River, Amy and Rory stepped out of the blue box.

The couple kneel near the Doctor as Melody stepped back, leaving them alone, still crying.

"You can't die now, I know you don't die now." said Amy.

"Oh Pond! You've got a schedule for everything." the Doctor said.

"But it doesn't make any sense..."

"Doctor, what do we do? Come on. How do we help you?" Rory pressed him.

"No sorry Rory, you can't. Nobody can. Ponds, listen to me, I need to talk to your daughter."

They stepped back, giving the place to River.

"Find her. Find River Song, and tell her something from me." the Doctor said, gesturing her to come closer. River, not knowing she was River yet, leaned in, listening to what the Doctor whispered in her ear.

"Well I'm sure she knows…" she said, looking at him. But that was it. the Doctor was dead.

Melody cried even harder and threw herself near him. She leaned in, resting her head on his chest. Everything went alright in the episode, but what if it didn't here? It broke her heart to see him dead.

River had to ask who was River Song. Why wasn't she asking already?

Suddenly her eyes opened wide, realizing. That is what she was made for. She sat up, looking at River.

"Ask them. Go on, ask them." she said.

"Who's River Song?" the curly haired woman asked to her parents.

Amy turned to face the robot:

"Are you still working? Because I'm still a relative. Access files on River Song."

"Records available."

"Show me her, show me River Song."

The Teselecta then started to change its appearance to take River's. Her eyes widened and soon were filled with tears. She turned away, looking at the Doctor lying on the floor, Melody still crying over him.

"What did he say?" Amy asked. "The Doctor gave you a message for River Song. What was it?" Then she looked down at River's hands which were glowing with regeneration energy. "What's happening? River, What are you doing?"

"Just tell me." River said, walking towards him and Melody. "The Doctor, is he worth it?"

Melody got up and smiled, wiping the tears away.

"Yes. He is worth it and so much more River. You'll see soon." Melody said, stepping away, joining Amy and Rory.

They watched River kneeling near the Doctor, putting her glowing hands on his cheeks. It instantly made him come back to life.

"River? No… What are you doing?" he said.

"Hello sweetie" she only answered before kissing him.

Golden light surrounded them as she was healing him, giving him all her remaining regenerations.

* * *

At the hospital, River was lying in a bed, unconscious. She slowly opened her eyes to find her mother.

"Hey" Amy said with a smile.

"Hey…" she answered weakly. "Where am I?"

"You're safe now. You're at the hospital." Melody answered her.

"Apparently you used all your remaining regenerations in one go." Amy spoke up. "You shouldn't have done that" she added with a small chuckle.

"Mother, I had to try. He said no-one could save him, but he must have known I could."

"Rule 1" the Doctor's voice said. They turned to him. "The Doctor lies."

River closed her eyes, getting back to sleep with a smile.

"She just needs to rest, she'll be absolutely fine." the nurse dressed in white said.

The Doctor came closer.

"No, she won't." he said, pulling out of his jacket a TARDIS blue notebook with a red ribbon. He put it on her bed table. "She will be… amazing."

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor and Melody were waiting for Amy and Rory who were saying goodbye to their daughter. He finished to type some coordinates and then looked up at Melody.

She was looking outside via the big screen in the wall. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She blenched a little in surprise.

"I'm sorry." he said. "I'm so sorry. For a first trip, that wasn't an easy one. You saw me die… thank you for being there when the end was near." She turned around and snuggled against his chest. He smiled and kissed her head. "How long are you gonna stay with me?"

"Forever." she answered without any hesitation.

"I hope you will…" he whispered. "My Mystery-Girl, the girl who knows…"

The doors of the TARDIS opened, letting Amy and Rory enter. They saw the Doctor and Melody hugging and they raised their eyebrows with a questioning look.

"Aw, that's cute." said Amy.

He made her a face before raising a hand to Melody's head. Now she knew what happened when he was doing this. The Doctor's voice echoed in her head.

"Can I-"

"Yeah."

He stepped back, giving her a soft smile to which she answered with a happy smile. It was funny how it felt to have him inside her head. It didn't feel bad, it felt almost… comforting. Just like his hugs: they wiped away all her bad and sad thoughts. She had noticed that every time he hugged her, he asked if she was ok before letting go.

"So that's it? We leave her there?" Amy asked, talking about River.

"Sisters of the Infinite Schism, greatest hospital in the universe." The Doctor answered.

"Yeah but she's our daughter. Doctor, she's River, and she's our daughter."

"Amy, I know, but we have to let her make her own way now. We have too much foreknowledge. Dangerous thing, foreknowledge." he mumbled, looking at the screen. Melody knew it was showing the date of his death.

"What's that?" Amy asked, wanting to look at the screen too.

"Nothing!" the man in a bow tie answered, turning a knob to clear the screen. "Just some data from the Teselecta. Very boring."

He smiled like an innocent child.

"Doctor, River was brainwashed to kill you, right?" Rory spoke up.

"Well she did kill me, then she used her remaining lives to bring me back. As first dates go, I'd say that was mixed signals."

"But that stuff that they put in her head, is that gone now? The River that we know in the future, she's in prison for murder."

"Whose murder?" Amy asked, finishing the thought of her husband.

The Doctor didn't answer, just giving them that same childish smile.

"You'll see her again, she'll come looking for us, don't worry." said Melody with a wink.

"Doctor!" Amy called. "You never really explained to us about Melody."

He turned around and walked to Melody's side, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"She's from a parallel universe hidden behind a perception filter. There's no alien in her universe, well, except for me when I go there to visit and relate some of my adventures to a man. There, we only exist as a TV show. Our parallel selves are actors. So no aliens, except for me… and her."

Amy and Rory looked at her.

"You're an alien? Are you… you know, like him? Are you a Time Lord?" Amy asked.

"No she is not a Time Lord. Well not really, not properly." the Doctor answered. "She's Human. Human plus Time Lord…"

"You mean… like our daughter? Like River? Like Melody? Oh God, they have the same name!" Rory said, starting to panicking a bit. Just a bit. A big bit.

"Rory stay calm please." the Doctor said. "I know the look-a-like with Amy and the similarities with

your daughter are disturbing. But she's not your daughter. We… don't really know who she is and what her purpose is, she's a complete mystery that we'll find out together, but what we know is that she's not your daughter."

The Ponds nodded, understanding.

"You said to me that I would see my daughter today, and you were right, how comes you knew?" Amy said.

"I know things, I have foreknowledge. I don't really know what for yet… but I guess it's to help… though there are some things I absolutely can't change."

"And I trust you to make the right choices, Melody, with my life." the Doctor said warmly to her. He kissed her forehead, making her smile before heading for the console. "Right, let's go and do something fun!"

And they took off.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think and see you next chapter! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! How are you all?**

 **Thank you to MidnightFedora, OtakuWhovian1224 (thanks for the review!), MadGirlWithAMask and Bookgeek890 for the faves and follows!**

 **So today's chapter will be short as it will be a "Meanwhile in the TARDIS"-like chapter (sorry not sorry) I hope you will like it. Just a little pause before the next episode rewriting. But you won't have to wait very long until the next one ;).**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 10_

The TARDIS was drifting through space. The doors opened, Melody was sitting there, watching the whole of space. She was alone, nobody was in the console room, no noise, just the soft and regular humming of the TARDIS.

Well she thought she was alone. Somebody came and sat next to her.

"How are you?" Amy asked.

"I'm ok…" she answered. "For someone that just found out that she was kind of alien and all her life until then was a lie, and watched her friend - that was a fictional character until then - die, that is."

The Pond let out a soft chuckle and they smiled at each other.

"I'm sorry for me being a bit rude when we met. I didn't know and…you were looking so much like me."

"It's ok Amy. You had just lost your daughter, and I know how disturbing our look-a-like is. Plus you're Scottish!" Melody said, with a laugh.

After a moment of quiet silence, Amy spoke up again.

"The Doctor… seems to like you a lot. I mean, you look very… attached to each other."

"I know him more than he knows me. As he said, in my world, you only exist as a TV show, a TV show I've been watching since I was a little girl. I know what he has been through and what he will have to go through… And it breaks my heart, because I can't change these things." she said, her voice cracking.

Amy wrapped her arm around her shoulders and hugged her.

"It's ok… It's how it works… And he trusts you. For the first time, he trusts someone more than himself."

"Oh I don't think so…"

"No but really. His life is in your hands, Melody. He trusts you so much, that he lets you decide what to change or not to change in his life. In the whole universe!"

Melody looked at the stars. She couldn't understand why he seemed to be so attached to her. She thought he was like this with everyone. Maybe it was because she was a mystery to him. Or because she looked like Amy and could have been River.

Amy smiled and got up, walking to her room.

Later, as a lone shadow was near her, Melody did the same: she got up and walking to the console, touched it lightly with her fingertips. The humming sound went a bit louder, making her smile. The TARDIS seemed to like her. She stretched a hand and rested it on the glass column.

A feeling of softness slipped into her mind, possessing her whole body, running in each of her cells. Golden lights were flying around like fireflies as a halo was wrapping her hand. Melody smiled in awe at the lights flying around, not paying attention to the rest.

Soon, the lights faded, leaving the girl looking around, not understanding what happened, but finding it really beautiful. She looked back at the glass column.

"TARDIS? Will you guide me to my room please? I haven't memorised yet…" she said. She had been to her room only once. The time machine answered with a humming before a little golden light flying around just like previously appeared in front of her and started to head towards a corridor. The girl followed the TARDIS' materialized soul until she stopped in front of a blue door.

"That's not my room." Melody said, frowning a bit. The time machine being psychic, she could feel the TARDIS assuring her that it was her room. "But it's different from the last time…"

As Melody was putting her hand on the door knob, golden circles appeared on the door but she didn't notice them, too close to see. The door opened and she stepped in, the golden light following her: the room was all warm white with golden and blue touches. A white big bed, a white and golden fluffy carpet and TARDIS blue framed mirror, bed lamps and circles on one wall.

She turned to the flying light.

"This is not my room, mine was with a bunker bed…" she said before looking at the circles on the wall. "It's Gallifreyan…" she whispered. She couldn't read them, but she seemed mesmerized by them.

"It's a psychic wall." a voice spoke up behind her, making her jump in surprise and turn around. The Doctor was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. "The Gallifreyan writings will change often, depends on what's in your head." he continued, stepping closer to her. "This is your room Melody. The TARDIS was still building it but now it's finished."

The girl nodded in answer.

"Thank you my dear." she said to the light before it disappeared. "What is written?" she then asked, looking at the wall.

The Doctor gave her a smile before kissing her forehead and leaving the room.

* * *

 **Hope you liked it, let me know :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello dear readers! Thank you to GeniusBoy for the faves and follows and as usual to Lily and OtakuWhovian1224 for their support!**

 **I've been asked why the little flag on my profile was the French one when I'm publishing in English and if it was a mistake. It is not a mistake it's just because I am French ^_^ and no, I don't use a translator.**

 **So here comes chapter 11! As promised, it's longer than the previous one and is an episode rewrting. This time, as it's not Melody's first time anymore, she will interfere a bit more.**

 **As always, I hope you will like it :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 11_

They walked down a staircase that seemed to never end.

"'Let's go to Ravan-Skala' he says, 'The people are 600 feet tall, you have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the Tourist Information Centre is made of one of their hats' he says." said Amy. "I'm sorry but I don't see any huge hats."

"Amy. Beaky. Misty." the Doctor said, looking at each of his companions.

"Oh I'm 'Misty' now?" Melody asked, teasing him.

He only gave her a wink before speaking again: "This could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen!"

"You're kidding." Rory said, already annoyed.

"How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?" his wife asked.

"Because, Ponds, this is not Earth!" Melody said, following the Doctor. She remembered this episode a little. It seemed to her it was "The God Complex" but she could hardly tell what was happening, her memory seemed to be a little fuzzy lately.

"Exactly!" he said, pointing his fingers at her. "This has been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved… Can you imagine?"

"What? Then where are we?" Amy asked, getting back to the TARDIS.

"I don't know, something must have yanked us off course. Look at the detail of that cheese plant!"

He was like a child going to Disneyland for the first time except it was a 80s-like hotel. Melody couldn't help but finding him utterly cute at that moment.

"Right, but who would mock up an Earth hotel?" Rory asked.

"Colonists maybe, recreating a bit of home, like when ex-pats opened English pubs in Majorca." he answered before crunching a bit of a red apple he took on a table. "Whoever did this, I am shaking his/her hand/tentacle."

Rory and Melody were looking at the walls, full of pictures of people, humans and aliens.

"Have you seen these?" the blonde called. "Look at the labels underneath...'Commander Halke, defeat.'..."

"They're all dead…" Melody whispered. "Tim Heath, having his photo taken… Lady Silver-Tear… Daleks…"

The Doctor came closer. She knew he would do so by hearing the word "Dalek". Daleks were always making him react.

"Paige Barnes, other people's socks... Tim Nelson, balloons… Novice Prin, sabre wolves… Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth… Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla… Doctor what does it mean?" Amy asked.

"I don't know, let's find out." he answered, before heading to the reception counter and ringing the bell.

A loud scream echoed and they all jumped back, the Doctor quickly pulling Melody behind him as a group of people came out, threatening them with various objects.

"Blimey, that was quick!"

"It's ok we're… we're nice!" Rory exclaimed.

"She threatened me with a chair leg!" said the Doctor, incredulous.

"Who are you?" an Indian woman dressed as a nurse asked.

"Oh we're back in the reception!" a young boy stated.

"We surrender!" a man, definitely alien exclaimed, waving a white cloth.

"I've never been threatened with a chair leg!" the Doctor exclaimed. "No, hang on, I tell a lie."

Everybody was speaking at the same time, making a hell of a noise.

"Everyone shut up, now!" Melody shouted. She stepped forward, between the two groups. "Look, we are as surprised as you are, we're not a trick, you know it. And we're not armed."

Everybody shut up, listened and calmed down.

"Oh that's my girl, you're good!" the Doctor said, stepping at her side. He kissed her forehead before putting an arm around her shoulders. "I take it from the pathological compulsion to surrender you're from Tivoli."

"Yes, the most invaded planet in the galaxy." the alien man looking a bit like a mouse said. "Our anthem is called Glory to 'Insert Name Here'."

"You, Howie, that's right? You said you were surprised to be back in reception." Melody said, remembering his name.

"The walls move, everything changes."

The Doctor frowned.

"You, Rita yeah? what is he talking about?" she continued.

"How comes you know our names? Who are you?" Rita, the Indian woman, asked.

"She knows everything, well sort of. Her name's Melody, I'm the Doctor and this is Amy and Rory."

The woman nodded, satisfied. "The corridors twist and stretch, rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else. It's like the hotel's alive."

The Doctor stretched his hand and turned off the music that was playing in reception since the beginning. It was such a background music that nobody really noticed it until it seemed to become louder. "That's quite enough of that."

"Yeah and it's huge" Howie spoke up. "With, like, no way out."

"Have you tried the front door?" Rory asked.

"No, in two days it never occurred to us to try the front door. Thank God you're here!" said Rita with sarcasm.

The Doctor left Melody to go scan the front door with his sonic before opening it to reveal a wall.

"They're not doors, they're walls, walls that look like doors. Door-walls if you like, or "dwalls", "woors" even…"

"Doctor!" Melody called him, seeing him starting to ramble.

"Yeah, sorry. And the windows are…" he continued, pulling the red curtains apart, revealing another wall. "Right! Big day if you're a fan of walls."

"It's not just that." Rita continued. "The rooms have... _things_ in them."

"Things? Hello!" the Doctor cut in, his curiosity waking up. "What kind of things? Interesting things? I love things, ask anyone."

Rita seemed to hesitate a bit before answering "Bad dreams."

"Well that killed the mood." he said. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know." Rita answered. "I had started my shift and I must have passed out, because suddenly I was here."

"I-I was blogging, next thing, this" Howie said.

"I was at work, I'm in town planning. We're lining all the highways with trees, so invading forces can march in the shade. Which is nice for them." the alien from Tivoli said.

"People snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms." Melody summed up.

"Well." the Doctor started, pulling out a Rubik's cube from his pocket. "Apart from anything else, that's just rude." he said. He grabbed Melody's hand and started to climb the stairs, followed by all. "We'll pop back to the TARDIS, I'll do a planet-wide diagnostic sweep, then we'll have a sing-song…"

His voice faded as he saw the TARDIS had disappeared. He waved his hand before him, trying to touch her in case she turned the invisible mode on herself.

"Where's the TARDIS? You parked it there, didn't you?" Amy asked.

He climbed more stairs with Melody, dragging her.

"What's a TARDIS?" Howie asked.

"Our way out." Rory answered. "And it's gone."

At this moment, the music turned itself back on. The Doctor gave a questioning look at Melody, as if he were asking her if he had heard well. She nodded, confirming that yes, it turned itself back on.

"Okay… This is bad… At the moment I don't know how bad, but certainly we're three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good." he said, coming back near the others. He rubbed his forehead, trying to think of a solution.

Suddenly Melody remembered something. She frown and she said: "Four…" They all turned to her."We're four, you used to be four… where's… Joe! Yeah, that's his name, where's Joe?"

"He's… a bit tied up right now." Rita answered, uneasy.

"Doing what?" the Doctor asked.

"No, Doctor she means he's _tied up_ right now." Melody said.

Rita and the others led them into the dining room where many puppets were sitting around dining tables, moving like they were chatting. It seemed even the sound of laughs came out of their mouths. Among them was a man, Joe, who was looking at them as though he was listening to them. As they entered the room, the puppets all stopped laughing and turned their heads around to look at the newcomers. They almost seemed alive. That was scary, really scary. Melody discreetly stepped next to the Doctor and feeling her close behind him, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it a little.

They walked towards Joe.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor."

"You're going to die here." Joe simply answered.

"Well they didn't mention that in the brochure." the Doctor said. "Is Joe there? Can I have a quick word?"

"It's still him Doctor." Melody informed him.

"But I've seen the light." Joe cut in. "I've lived a blasphemous life, but He has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon, He shall feast."

The Doctor grabbed a chair and sat down, pulling Melody in to make her sit on his lap. She frowned a bit: that was unusual. She looked over his shoulder to give a questioning look to Amy but she only shrugged in answer.

"You've been here two days, what's he waiting for?" the Doctor asked to Joe.

"We weren't ready. We were still raw."

"But now you're what? Cooked?" he said while, Melody could see it, noticing the pin on Joe's tie and his cuff-links: an horseshoe and dice, all symbols of good luck.

"If you like" Joe answered. "Soon you will be too. Be patient. First, find your room."

"My room…"

"There's a room here for everyone, Doctor. Even you."

"You said you'd seen the light now." The Doctor started.

"Nothing else matters any more. Only him." Joe cut in. "It's like these things. I used to hate them!" he said looking at the puppets all around. "But they make me laugh now. Gottle o'geer! Gottle o'geer!" he said with a mad laugh. And all the puppets started laughing and moving again. "You should go. He'll be here soon."

The Doctor and Melody got up. He ordered Rory to take Joe tied on his chair and put it on a sort of carriage and they went out of the room, back to reception.

"Why you four?" the Doctor mumbled. "That's what I don't understand. Aside from all the other things."

He turned the music off again.

"What does it matter?" the mouse-face-like alien asked. "Sooner or later, someone will come along and rescue us. Or enslave us."

"First we find the TARDIS." the Doctor said, tapping the counter. "Quick thing before we go: if you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in. And make sure someone else can see you at all times."

"Joe said 'He' will feast." whispered Rita. "Is there something else here with us?"

Joe started to laugh again like a mad man.

"Something to add Joe?" Melody asked.

"Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop, chop." Joe said, looking at everyone.

"Can we do something about him?!" suddenly asked Howie, afraid.

* * *

Walking along the corridors they searched for the TARDIS. The man from Tivoli pushing Joe who got his mouth shut with duct tape so he would cease his mad laugh.

"Personally, I think you've got the right idea." he said to Joe. "Times like this, I think of my old school motto: "Resistance is exhausting."

While Howie was explaining to Rory is theory about everything being made up by the CIA, a man, clearly being a PE teacher, walked out of a room and started to scold the Doctor:

"Have you forgotten you PE kit again?"

Rita, Amy and the alien pushing Joe ahead turned around while Rory and Howie behind stopped walking. The Doctor slowly put Melody behind him.

"That's it! You're doing it in your pants!" the teacher said. And he got back into the room.

Melody then remembered: she turned around but it was too late, Howie was already opening the door of his room.

"No Howie don't!" she shouted. She ran as he was watching his fear and closed the door. "Howie you ok?"

"Th-th-this is just some m-m-messing CIA stuff, I'm t-t-telling you." he stammered.

"Right, keep telling yourself that, it's a CIA thing, nothing more." the Doctor said to him.

They kept walking down the corridors, still searching when they saw deep scratches in a door frame. Amy knelt down and picked up some papers on the floor while Rory was doing the same but for lacing his shoe.

"Hum...Guys?" he asked, looking at a fire exit. But nobody answered.

"Look." said Amy, showing the papers.

Suddenly, a roar echoed in the corridors and Joe started to shake. The Doctor took Melody's hand and pulled her closer.

"Whatever that is, it's not real, yeah?" Amy asked to the Doctor.

"No, no I'm sure it isn't." he answered, stepping back. "But just in case, let's run away and hide in here."

They rushed into a room while Rita dragged Joe into another room.

"No! This way!" called Rory. "I've found a…" but he stopped when he turned back to the fire exit… which had disappeared.

"Rory come on!" the Doctor yelled.

"There was a…"

"Come on!"

Rory finally ran into the room where Amy, Howie, and Melody were facing a bunch of weeping angel. The alien from Tivoli was hiding in a cupboard.

"Don't blink." Amy said to the others.

"What?" asked Howie, not understanding.

The light started to flicker and the angels started to move each time the light went out, stretching their hands that looked like claws and showing their fangs.

"Amy get back!" Rory exclaimed.

"Melody come here!" the Doctor called, grabbing her wrist and pulling her behind him. "Why haven't they got us yet?" he asked himself. He stepped forwards and dared to touch the chest of one of them.

"They're not real. They should have got us by now." He stepped back to Amy and looked into her eyes. "Look at me, focus on me. It's your bad dream that's all."

"I don't even think they're for us." said Rory, nodding to the man from Tivoli, hiding in the cupboard, threatened.

He squealed and closed the door, sealing himself in.

They heard heavy footsteps in the corridor and the Doctor came closer to the door. He was on the point of opening it when Amy asked:

"Doctor what are you doing?"

"Sorry, I just have to see what it is, I have to see." he said, leaning in to see through the door thanks to the peep hole. "Oh look at you… You are beautiful." he whispered before a thud was heard. He got back. "Oh dear. I think he's going after Joe."

Melody let out a heavy sigh. She couldn't save him. She could save the others but not him, she knew it, she felt it.

They got out of the room, the Doctor first.

"Leave him alone!" he shouted when he saw at the end of the corridor Joe's body being dragged. He ran and ran down the corridors when he finally found him. Dead.

* * *

 **I hope it was good, let me know and see you next chapter! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everyone! Thanks for reading me again :)**

 **Chapter 11 hasn't been much of a success aparently, do not hesitate to give me some advice, I'll be happy to imrpove :)**

 **Here comes chapter 12, I hope you will like it!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 12_

Back in the dining room, they had laid down Joe before the puppets. The Doctor scanned him and the puppets with his sonic screwdriver before covering the corpse with a white sheet.

"If we can wedge a chair under the door handles, that would stop anything from getting in." Rory said carrying chairs with Howie.

"Help yourself to tea." Rita said. "Guys, tea over here."

Melody watched Amy talking to the man from Tivoli. She smiled a bit: Amy had such faith in the Doctor. She will protect it.

Rita came towards Melody and the Doctor and offered them tea.

"What exactly happened to him?" she asked.

"He died." the Doctor simply answered.

"You are a medical doctor, aren't you? You haven't just got a degree in cheese-making or something."

"No, well yes, both, actually. I mean there is no cause, all his vital organs simply stopped, as if the simple spark of life, his loves and hates, his faiths and fears were just…" He sniffed the cup he was holding. "...taken, and this is a cup of tea."

"Of course I'm… British, it's how we cope with trauma." said Rita. "That and tutting."

"But how did you make it?"

"We're in an hotel Doctor. Even a mocked up alien hotel have a well stocked kitchen." Melody said. The Doctor looked at her. "Oh don't worry, Rita heard us when we arrived."

"Yeah. It's no more ridiculous than Howie's CIA theory or mine." the Indian woman said.

"Which is?"

"This is Jahannam."

"You're a Muslim!" the Doctor said with a smile.

"Doctor!" Melody exclaimed. "That's not a good manner to point at things like you do…"

"Don't be frightened." said Rita laughing.

"You think this is Hell?"

"The whole '80s hotel thing took me by surprise though." Rita answered with a nod.

"All these fears and phobias wandering about, most are completely unconnected to us, so why are they still here?" the Doctor asked.

"Maybe the cleaners have gone on strike." she joked.

"You're a right clever clogs." he laughed. "But this isn't Hell, Rita."

Melody listened to them talking for a bit when Rita said something that made her look up:

"Gibbis is an alien, isn't he?"

"Gibbis! That was his name! Why couldn't I remember!" Melody exclaimed. "Sorry…" she added after seeing the Doctor looking at her, frowning, with a confused look.

"Doctor look at this" Amy spoke up. " I found it in a corridor, I completely forgot I had it."

The Doctor took the papers she was handing him and tapped her forehead meaning 'memory of a goldfish!'. He started to read out loud.

"Er… My name is Lucy Hayward, and I'm the last one left. It took Luke first. It got him on his first day, almost as soon as we arrived. It's funny. You don't know what's going to be in your room until you see it, then you realise it could never have been anything else. I just saw mine, it was a gorilla from a book I had read as a kid. My God, that thing used to terrify me. The gaps between my worships are getting shorter, like contractions. This is what happened to the others… And how lucky they were. It's all so clear now. I'm so happy. Praise him."

"Praise him" Howie spoke up. All heads turned to him.

"What did you just say?" the Doctor asked him.

Melody sighed: she closed the door too late. Howie started to praise him. And if he had started, there was little chance she could be able to save him.

"Nothing" the boy answered. "Praise him!" he exclaimed without controlling it.

"This is what happened to Joe!" Gibbis said.

Then everybody started to speak at the same time, panicking, arguing.

Melody took the sonic from the Doctor's hand and pressed on the button, making a loud noise to claim the silence.

"Thank you." she said, handing it back to him.

"He'll lead it right here!" Gibbis said.

"What do you suggest?" Rita talked back.

"Whatever it is out there, it has obviously chosen Howard as its next course. Tragic though that is, this is no time for sentiment. I'm saying, if it were to… find him, it may be satisfied and let the rest of us go." he said before letting out a sigh and sitting down. "All I want to do is go home and be conquered and oppressed, is that too much to ask?"

"It's ok I'll stay with Howie. You take the others and go." Rita proposed.

"No, we stay together." said the Doctor. He then walked up to Gibbis. "Your civilisation is one of the oldest in the galaxy. Now I see why. Your cowardice isn't quaint, it's sly, aggressive. It's how that gene of gutlessness has survived while so many others have perished. Not today. No-one else dies today. Right?" he said.

Gibbis only nodded in response.

"Howie, any second, it's going to possess you again. When it does, I'm going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them." the Doctor explained to Howie as he sat him down in front of the table where they were all sitting, observing the young boy. The Doctor sat down next to Melody and grabbed her hand. He gave her a little smile.

She was feeling so useless. She couldn't save Joe, she probably won't be able to save Howie, what was she supposed to do?

"I hope my mum's all right, she's going to be worried." Howie said before changing his attitude. Now he was smiling like a devil.

"Howie, you're next, we're all dead jealous so tell us…" started the Doctor. "How do we get a piece of the action? Why isn't he possessing all of us?"

"You guys have got...all these distractions." he answered, tapping his head. "All these obstacles. It'd be so much easier if you just let it go, you know. Clear the path."

"You want it to find you?" asked Amy. "Even though you know what it's going to do?"

"Are you kidding? He's going to kill us all! How cool is that?"

They all got up and moved a few steps away.

"It's as I thought, it feeds on fear." said the Doctor. "Everything, the rooms, Lucy's note, even the pictures in reception has been put here to frighten us. So we have to resist it. Do whatever you have to, cross your fingers, say a prayer, think of a basket of kittens, but do not give in to the fear."

"Ok but what are we actually going to do?" asked Amy.

"We're going to catch ourselves a monster" he answered with a smile.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello you beautiful people! Thank you again for reading me, do not hesitate to give me feedback, even if you have some advice for me to improve my writings, don't worry I won't take it as a bad thing :)**

 **Here comes chapter 13 where there is a bit more of action and a bit more of Doctor-Melody moments. Some of you noticed I sign as "Melody" in my author's notes and if you've seen my profile you already know that is my real name but as I said in PMs the heroine is not me, I just used my name for the story as it could present an interesting plot. :)**

 **So I stop rambling and let you read the chapter. Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 13_

"Bring me death!" said Howie's voice. "Bring me glory! My master, my lord, I'm here!" he continued as a loud footstep was heard. "Come to me. I'm waiting, here...For you. He has promised me a glorious death. Give it to me now, I want him to know my devotion. Praise him. Praise him."

Around one of the bathrooms, the Doctor, Amy, Rita and Rory were working on a trap.

"Let his name...Be the last thing I hear. Let his breath on my skin be the last thing I feel. I was lost in shadows, but he found me. His love was a beacon that led me from darkness to light, and now I am blinded by his majesty! Humbled by his glory! Praise him!"

A noise echoed from the radio, waking Howie from his trance.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"The Doctor must have cut the communication." Melody answered, taking the sonic screwdriver that was used as a microphone.

They were at reception, Howie tied to a chair and Gibbis.

"You lied to me!" exclaimed the young boy trying to break free.

"Calm down Howie this is for your own good." the alien from Tivoli said.

"At least stand where I can see you!"

"I've been told not to speak to you"

"And yet that's what you're doing Gibbis!" Melody cut in.

"Don't mean you can't listen." Howie said. "You were right you know. Chances are if you hand me over, he'll leave you alone."

"He'll leave us alone for what? Five minutes until somebody else finds his or her room. Then it will all start again." the red haired girl said.

"It's not like chucking me out of a plane to lighten the load. I'm asking you for this. I'm begging you."

"You're possessed, you'd say anything." Gibbis said.

"You're asking and I'm saying no Howie." Melody added.

"Possessed guys can be quite strong." he said. "Who's to say I didn't overpower you? An alien that fear everything and a girl."

"Don't be stupid Howie, you may be possessed but we're not letting you out, _I_ am not letting you out, that's why I'm here because I knew that if I weren't, Gibbis would let you die."

Howie looked at her and then started to laugh with that mad laugh Joe had. She frowned a bit, asking herself what was going on in his head when suddenly an intense pain flashed in the back of her head and soon, everything went black.

* * *

With a blench, Melody woke up on the hotel floor. She sat up and rubbed the back of her

head. Suddenly the sound of broken glass came from upstairs. She looked around and found Gibbis, looking around confused. She got up and walk towards him, pushing him against the wall.

"Where is he? Where is Howie?"

"He was c-c-climbing upstairs." he answered.

She looked at her watch: just five minutes had passed since that rat from Tivoli knocked her out.

She remembered, she had to find Amy, right now.

She ran upstairs and hopefully, she managed to find the bathroom: Rory was on the ground, Rita and Amy at his side.

"We should find the Doctor…" Amy said, getting up. But her voice faded as she saw something. She walked towards a room, her room.

Before she could get to open it, Melody popped between her and the door.

"Amy! You're here! I'm glad you're ok! What happened? Have you seen Howie?" she said, grabbing her by the arm and leading her away from the door, back to Rory and Rita.

Then they ran to find the Doctor, and after a while they did: he was kneeling near Howie, dead. Melody closed her eyes and sighed. She failed to save him. She was so useless.

At the other end of the corridor, Gibbis showed up. Everybody looked at him.

"He got free. He overpowered me."

The Doctor looked at him and then looked at Melody, still afflicted by the young boy's death. Something was not right. She was supposed to look after him with Gibbis, she assured him that if Gibbis was left alone he would let him out. But she was there to prevent it.

"Melody come here." he ordered. The girl walked to him. "What happened?" he asked.

"I...I don't really know. I think he knocked me out."

He raised his hands and rested them on her head which made her yelp a little. Images of what recently happened were passing in front of her eyes: the Doctor was rewinding her memory to find out. It stopped when he found what he was searching for and the Doctor quickly examined the back of her head. He then walked to Gibbis, his face filled with anger and his eyes like the Oncoming Storm.

"You might have been a coward letting that young boy walk to his death, but you've been a fool to think you could harm Melody, _my_ Melody without any consequences." he said, his voice growling like the thunder. His fists were clenched and Melody could almost see a dark aura floating around him. "From now on I won't protect you if you start to praise him."

He came back to the rest of the group, took Melody's hand and they walked away, Gibbis following them.

* * *

The Doctor was speaking with Rory as Amy was finding a place for the fish they found in the bathroom. Gibbis might have found a place to hide and Rita was just walking along in a bit of a calm down since Howie's death.

A moment later, the Doctor met Rita.

"Rita! Brilliant! How are you? Not panicking, are you?" he asked. She answered with a shake of her head in negation. "Good, good. 'Cause I'm literally an otter's toenail away from getting us out of here."

"Why?"

"Excellent question. Excellent question." he said, starting to walk away. He then came back. "Why… What?"

"Why is it up to you to save us? That's quite a God Complex you have there." Rita said.

The Doctor turned around to look at Amy watching the little goldfish.

"I brought them here. They'd say it was their choice, but offer a child a suitcase of sweets and they'll take it. Offer someone all of time and space and they'll take that too. Which is why you shouldn't. Which is why grown-ups were invented."

"All of time and space eh?"

"Oh yeah! And when we get out of this I'll show you too." he said, still looking at Amy, frowning.

"I don't know what you're talking about but whatever it was I have a feeling you did it again."

He turned his head, laughing a bit and looked at a camera.

"Right down to the smallest detail. Got you Mr Minotaur."

* * *

The Doctor came back to the others.

"Wait, no, hang on! That's not right. There's only three of you and I just left Rita, where's Melody?"

"We thought she was with you." Amy answered with a shrug.

"And I thought she was with _you_! Where's she? Melody!" He started to run down the corridors searching for her when suddenly, a door bearing the number eleven drew his attention. He walked towards it and opened it, peeking in. "Of course… Who else?" he whispered before closing the door and leaving a "Do not disturb" sign outside.

"You shouldn't have opened it." a voice spoke up, making him turn around.

"Melody! where were you?" he exclaimed walking to her and pulling her in a tight hug. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again!"

She smiled a bit and he led her to a control room filled with many screens showing what the cameras were filming.

"Oh you beauty!" he exclaimed. "Come on big fella! Where are you? Hang on… Rita where are you going?" he said while picking up the phone and composing a number.

Melody's eyes widened: Rita! Rita went into another room with Joe! She's next!

"Doctor I'm going after her, I have to!" and she ran off before he could say anything.

She ran and tried to find Rita but the corridors kept making her going round and round: the hotel was keeping her away from Rita. She let out a scream of rage and despair: what was the point of her foreknowledge if she couldn't save innocent people that wouldn't change the course of Time?

Somewhere in the hotel, she heard the loud thuds accompanying the creature, the Minotaur. Rita was lost.

Melody fell to the ground and started to cry until she heard footsteps behind her. Warm arms pulled her into a hug and she recognized the Doctor.

 _Who else?_ she thought. Who else was able to wipe her tears away? Nobody else.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, let me know :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello you beauties!**

 **HAPPY 4TH OF JULY for all my American readers! I hope you'll enjoy your day!**

 **So here comes Chapter 14, I do hope you enjoy the story so far. Reviews and views stats are getting low, is it because you don't like it or is there another reason? Feel free to tell me! :)**

 **Also if you like the story and have some whovian friends, feel free to share it!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 14_

Back to reception, Rory, Amy, Melody and Gibbis were sitting while the Doctor was letting out all his anger. Melody was understanding him. He failed saving people just as she had. When she heard him throw a glass she got up and walked to him. He was standing there, panting, another glass held tight in a hand, ready to break. Without a word she wrapped her arms around his chest and buried her face in the crook of his neck. He sighed, dropping the glass before holding her tight against him. She was good at calming him down. After the usual psychic demand for breaking the hug, they walked back to the others, Melody sitting at the counter.

"Ok… It preys on people's fear and possesses them. But Rita wasn't afraid, she was brave and calm. Maybe it's something to do with the people, some connection between the four of you that'll tell me how to fight it."

"Yes you keep saying that but you never do." Gibbis said, annoyed. "And while we wait, people keep dying. And we'll be next!"

"Shut up!" Melody cut him. "If you did as you were told Howie would still be alive, so shut up!"

"He'll work it out, he always does." Amy said. "Just let him riffs and moves anything expensive out of his way."

"You have no right to blame him Gibbis, he doesn't owe you anything." Melody said.

"Oh no…"

"Doctor what's wrong?" asked Amy.

"It's not fear. It's faith. Not just religious faith, faith in something. Howard believed in conspiracies, external forces controlling the world. Joe had dice cuff-links and a horseshoe. He was a gambler. Gamblers believe in luck, an intangible force that helps them win or lose. Gibbis rejected personal autonomy and is waiting for the next batch of invaders to tell him what to do." the Doctor deducted. "They all believe there's something guiding them, about to save them. That's what it replaces. Every time someone was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith. And all this time I've been telling you to dig deep. Find the thing that keeps you brave. I made you expose your faith. Show them what they needed."

"But why us? Why are we here?" Rory asked.

"It doesn't want you." he answered. "That's why it kept showing you a way out. You're not religious or superstitious, so there's no faith for you to fall back on." he explained. The Doctor paused, resting against the counter next to Melody. He looked at her. "It wants her…"

"Me?" Melody said, uneasy. She knew what he was meaning. He leaned closer.

"You've found your room, haven't you? When you disappeared. Then you were there, behind me when I found my own room."

"It was me or Amy. I couldn't let it take Amy's faith in you away."

"So you're going to let it take it away from you instead… To save her." the Doctor said. "But I won't let you die. Your faith in me, yours and Amy's, that's what brought us here."

"But why do they lose their faith before they die?" asked Rory. "And start worshipping...'it'?"

"It needs to convert the faith into a form 'it' can consume. Faith is an energy, the specific emotional energy the creature needs to live. Which is why at the end of her note, Lucy said…"

"Praise him." Melody completed.

"Exactly." the man in a bow tie approved. Then he exchanged a look with Amy and Rory and understood. "No… Please no."

The footsteps of the Minotaur started to echo over their heads, making the ceiling tremble.

They all started to run, the creature on their heels. Melody stopped and turned around to see it. She entered in a sort of a trance and muttered.

"Oh he's beautiful!"

"Melody! No! Come here!" shouted the Doctor, coming to get her with the help of Rory. They almost carried her when they rushed into a room to hide. They all stood there, stunned by what they were seeing. It was the Doctor's body, dead, with bloody scratches all over his skin and bruises, as if he fought with something.

Melody let out a sob and fell on the ground near the corpse while Rory was holding the door, helped by Amy, the Minotaur giving thuds on the other side.

"It's happening, it's changing me. It's changing my thoughts" Melody said. The Doctor knelt next to her. He wanted to give her a hug, wiping away her fears, but that's what it wanted: make her have even more faith in him. He tried to hold her gaze and said:

"I can't save you, there's nothing I can do to stop this."

"It won't work Doctor, I know you're saying this to save me." she cut him, trembling.

"No, but listen. I really can't save you, there's absolutely nothing I can do. You're on your own. I should have left you in your life. Maybe nothing would have happened, maybe you would have had a normal life. I let my curiosity take over and I was selfish to take you with me. I led you by the hand to your death. This is what always happens." he said. That wasn't working. He tried something else. "You knew it would happen. You have foreknowledge, why didn't you just asked to go back? Why did you come if it wasn't to save innocent people? You walked to your death, and you knew what it would make me feel. You knew that would break me into pieces. I trusted you, with my life. And this is what I get for giving you everything: broken hearts and your dead body in my arms!" he exclaimed, pain and anger in his eyes.

The Minotaur entered the room.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she realised what she did. He could have save Amy, it would have been easy compared to her. He trusted her and she failed. What a deception she had been. She felt like she had betrayed him and now she knew that everything between them was broken. She lost her chance to travel with him. She wanted to protect him but she only caused him more grief.

"Forget me. I should never have come back for you." he finished, getting up and turning away from her.

The creature walked back into the corridor. The Doctor followed him, leaving Melody crying in the room. It fell to the ground, obviously dying as the girl was loosing her faith. Sparks flashed from the lamps and the lights faded out as he knelt next to the Minotaur. The hotel decor faded out.

"I severed the food supply." the Doctor said. "Sacrificing their faith in me. I gave you the space to die."

Soon they were all in a dark place, no hotel to see. It seemed like a spaceship.

"What is it? A Minotaur?" asked Amy. "Or an alien? Or an alien Minotaur? That's not a question I thought I'd be asking this morning."

"It's both actually." the Doctor answered. "Yeah, here we go." He walked over a console. "Distant cousin of the Nimon. They descend on planets and set themselves up as Gods to be worshipped. Which is fine, until the inhabitants get all secular and advanced enough to build bonkers prisons."

"Correction." Rory spoke up. "Prisons in space."

"Where are the guards?" Amy said.

"No need for any, it's automated." the Time Lord answered. "It drifts through space, snatching people with belief systems and converts their faith into food for the creature."

"It didn't just want me or Melody, you must believe in something or someone too, or they wouldn't have shown you your door too." said Amy while Rory and Gibbis were speaking. "So, what do Time Lords pray to?"

"According to the in-flight recorder, the program developed glitches. It got stuck on the same setting, the fears from the people before us weren't tidied away." he only answered.

He looked behind his shoulder: Melody was still on the floor, not moving. She was alive, that was sure, but broken. The Doctor fought himself to not get back to her since the creature wasn't dead yet.

It growled.

"What's it saying?" asked Amy.

"An ancient creature." he started to translate. "drenched in the blood… of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless, shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift." He knelt next to the Minotaur. "Then accept it. And sleep well." He got up before translating again. "I wasn't talking about myself."

The beast let out a last sigh before closing its eyes. It was dead.

Confused, the Doctor finally got back to Melody and carried her into the TARDIS.

* * *

The TARDIS appeared between a park and a row of houses. A red car was parked. The Ponds and the Doctor stepped out. He was offering them the house and the car, offering them a real life. He was leaving them. Not for long, Melody knew that, though she said goodbye to them because she will probably won't see them again.

When he stepped back into the TARDIS she was there, as pale as snow. She looked tired, broken. The Doctor looked down at his feet, his jaw clenching. He must still be angry. He walked passed her and pulled some lever. The TARDIS took off.

He finally looked at her.

"I… I can't take it. I can't stand it." he said. He walked to her and pulled her into a tight, warm and bone cracking hug. "Forgive me." Melody's eyes widened. He was asking her to forgive him? She thought she was the one that had to be forgiven. "It was a lie, all was a lie. When I saw that blaming myself wouldn't work on you I blamed you, saying awful things so you'd stopped having faith in me. I wanted to take you home too so you'd be safe, but I can't. I didn't think a word, not one of them."

"So...you're not angry? You're not rejecting me?" she asked, trembling.

He looked into her eyes.

"I am never ever rejecting you again. I promise." he said. A tear rolled down her cheek and he wiped it away, giving her a soft smile. "Never again. My Mystery Girl."

He kissed her forehead and pulled her back into the hug.

"Never again."

* * *

 **Let me know what do you think about it and see you next chapter! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello everyone! Sorry that I didn't update earlier but well, I had some problems to deal with. Plus as I'm working for the summer, I try to keep writing to be a few chapters ahead of the publishing but it's not easy to find the time!**

 **Anyway, thank you for the recent faves and follows, and Turtle and Nancy B for their super-nice reviews! Thanks guys it helps me a lot!**

 **And I thought maybe - as some are apparently reading me in guest mode - I'd give you my twitter so you guys can follow me there and I'll tweet when I update the fic, what do you think? So you don't have to always check on the website or anything. You guys can ask me for a follow back if you want, of course. I barely tweet so I won't be a nuisance ;) Tell me if you're interested!**

 **Here comes Chapter 15, a "Meanwhile-in-the-TARDIS"-like chapter, rather short but plenty more is coming so don't worry.**

 **Again do not hesitate to give me feedback and advice :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 15_

" _How the TARDIS could feel so… empty without the Ponds._ " Melody thought. She was in a nightie, wandering along the corridors of the time machine, exploring her depths before going to sleep while the Doctor was fixing some things in the console room.

As she walked quietly, a golden light came floating next to her. She tilted her head seeing it: she would never have thought that the TARDIS would like so much to hang around as a little ball of light. She followed her as she was taking the lead. She stopped in front of a big wooden door, with an ancient design that bore Gallifreyan writings on it.

Melody opened the door to reveal a huge - even gigantic - library. She looked in awe at all the beautiful books and other strange forms of recording knowledge stored on the wooden shelves.

The light didn't let her much time to admire all the sources of knowledge, flying straight to another door. As soon as the girl opened it, her jaw dropped: hundreds, no, thousands of music instruments were stored there. She recognized some as they were from Earth. In the centre of the room was a big black piano. She sat on the little bench and lightly touched the ebony and ivory keys, making a light and pure note fly out of it.

A smile lightened her lips.

* * *

In the console room, the Doctor was looking anxiously at Melody's scanner and DNA. He couldn't find what she was for, except helping people with her foreknowledge, sometimes. He cleared the screen and looked around him. Where was she? It had been quite a long time since he saw her. She couldn't have got herself lost in the TARDIS since the time machine seemed to be pretty fond of the young girl and would have helped her to find her way out. He gave a look at the glass column.

"Where is she?" he asked. He listened to the answer. "Thank you, you sexy thing." he said with a smile.

He started to walk down the corridors and stopped when he arrived near the library. Was it a piano? He entered the library and silently walked to the music room. There she was: sitting on the bench at the piano, playing, and a little light floating next to her. The notes were regular and did not seem to be part of any symphony.

But soon, a voice rose. A soft, deep but light voice. Strong, but fragile at the same time.

 _All along it was a fever_

 _A cold sweat hot-headed believer_

 _I threw my hands in the air, I said show me something_

 _He said, if you dare come a little closer_

 _Round and around and around and around we go_

 _Oh now tell me now tell me now tell me now you know_

 _Not really sure how to feel about it_

 _Something in the way you move_

 _Makes me feel like I can't live without you_

 _It takes me all the way_

 _I want you to stay_

She held the last word for a moment, before making her voice fade. The Doctor had never heard that song and her voice, Melody's voice was giving him shivers and goosebumps.

 _It's not much of a life you're living_

 _It's not just something you take, it's given_

 _Round and around and around and around we go_

 _Oh now tell me now tell me now tell me now you know_

 _Not really sure how to feel about it_

 _Something in the way you move_

 _Makes me feel like I can't live without you_

 _It takes me all the way_

 _I want you to stay_

Once again she held the last word. He had heard many things, many songs in this universe, but none of them could match the feelings Melody's voice was giving him. It was like she was telling a kind of a story, something that touched her. And she was sharing her feelings with anybody that would listen to her.

 _Oh the reason I hold on_

 _Oh 'cause I need this hole gone_

 _Funny you're the broken one_

 _But I'm the only one who needed saving_

' _Cause when you never see the light_

 _It's hard to know which one of us is caving_

 _Not really sure how to feel about it_

 _Something in the way you move_

 _Makes me feel like I can't live without you_

 _It takes me all the way_

 _I want you to stay_

 _I want you to stay…_

The last note of the song flew in the air.

Leaning against the door frame, he looked at her. He never imagined that she could sing. And he never imagined that her voice could be so touching.

The girl got up.

"Thank you." she whispered to the ball of light. She turned around, ready to get out of the music room and jumped in surprise when she saw him standing there, eyes lost. "How long have you been here?" she asked with a shy voice, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Long enough… You never told me you could sing."

"You never asked." she simply said, shrugging. "Plus it's not that good."

"It _is_ good!" the Doctor exclaimed, outraged by her lack of self-esteem.

She laughed a bit seeing his face. He was funny when he was doing this face. He was such a child.

"Come here." he said, opening his arms wide with a smile. He didn't want her to be cross with him because he listened.

She couldn't resist an invitation to a hug. She step between his arms and wrapped hers around his chest. She loved to listen to his heartbeats: they reminded her that everything was real. _He_ , the best friend she always dreamed of, was real. She closed her eyes as she snuggled between his arms.

She felt one of his hands rise to rest on her head. He made a psychic contact but, curiously, did not speak. It's like they were enclosed in a bubble. She could feel him, his mind, just next to hers, but he was not saying a word. His second hand rose and rested on her head as well. She looked up, quite curious. The Doctor moved his hand to her cheeks and locked his eyes on hers before giving her a soft smile. He closed his eyes, leaving her wondering about what he was doing. He moved his lips to her forehead and kissed it. As soon as he kissed, Melody's eyes shut and she fell between his arms, completely asleep.

The Doctor carried her to her room and put her into her bed before sitting at her side.

"You'll have to be very, very brave Melody, once again. Soon you'll lose me. It's going to be hard, but at least, I'll never see the end of you, you'll still be… breathing." he said with a trembling voice. "I won't be able to stay with you…" . For a second he hesitated to continue but said nothing. He got up, leaned in and once again kissed her forehead before leaving the room.

* * *

 **There you go! Let me know what you think :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello you beauties!**

 **We meet again for Chapter 16! Before I let you get on with it, I'd like to give a special thank you to Turtle who's an absolute sweetheart with his (her?) reviews! Thank you, it does help me a lot and warms my little heart (yes I have one...)!**

 **Well I don't have much more to say, just tell me (in pm or reviews or whatever) if you'd like my twitter or nah. As usual, please let me know what you think and help me get better.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 16_

Melody sat up in her bed, waking up.

"He did it again, didn't he?" she exclaimed, getting up and searching for her clothes. It wasn't the first time the Doctor made her sleep. Whenever he met her in the TARDIS at her bedtime not asleep, he ended up by tricking her and making her sleep before carrying her to bed. "And where the hell are my clothes?!" she asked. It seemed all the clothes disappeared, including the nightie she had just taken off to get dressed. Even the wardrobe was empty. So she was standing there, in the middle of her room, just wearing her underwear, how embarrassing. She looked up.

"TARDIS, this isn't funny at all you know! Where did you put all my clothes?"

The time machine just answered with a noise that sounded like a laugher, making the girl sigh.

Suddenly the door burst open.

"Melody are you up yet? I thought we could go say hello to…." the Doctor said.

Letting out a panicked and surprised cry, Melody wrapped her arms around her chest before turning around so he would only see her back, though that was already too much.

"...Craig. Oops." he finished. "I-I'm sorry!" . He quickly hid his face behind his hands before looking at her body again, frowning. "No, wait, hang on, that's not right!"

"I know, the TARDIS hides my clothes and then this kind of thing happens!" Melody said. "Now could you stop looking and get out so I can dress please? That's embarrassing."

"No."

"What?". She heard him come closer. "What are you doing? Doctor I'm… _naked_!"

He didn't answer her and looked closely at her back.

"Where did you get this?"

"Get what?" she asked, not understanding his question.

"That thing on your back, have has it been there always?"

"Doctor I don't understand, I have nothing on my back!" she exclaimed, turning around and quite annoyed, still hiding her chest with her arms.

He was frowning. Oh that deep frown, that's there's-something-wrong frown.

"You don't have any tattoo then?" he asked.

"No!"

He took her by the shoulders and led her to the wardrobe, closed the door and turned her around.

"Look in the mirror, over your shoulder." he ordered.

She was on the point to ask why but obeyed and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she saw drawings running along her spine, from her neck to her back. She narrowed her eyes: not drawings, writings! Circular Gallifreyan writings were all along her back!

"Doctor…" she stated with a trembling voice. "Doctor what is this? How... _How_? What does it mean? Doctor please answer me! What's happening to me?!" she asked, panic making her voice raise. The Doctor gave her a reassuring smile before pulling her into a tight hug. _That_ was embarrassing. As he ran his fingertips along the writings inked in her skin, making her shiver, he whispered in her ear:

"You are so psychic that the TARDIS is writing on your skin. She's giving you something, and that's why she took your clothes away: she wanted me to see it."

"But what's written?"

"The Child of Time." he answered. "You are the Child of Time…"

* * *

The knock stopped and soon the door opened.

"I can cope on my own!" exclaimed a blonde man who Melody recognised as Craig Owens.

So this was the episode "Closing Time" then…

"Hello Craig! I'm back!" the Doctor said with a wide smile.

"She didn't? How could she phone you?" the man asked, shocked.

"How could who phone me? Nobody phoned me, I'm just here and this is Melody, she's my girl, my Timey-Wimey-Mystery Girl!"

"Hi Craig!" the girl said.

The Doctor looked inside the house before saying:

"Oh you've redecorated! I don't like it."

Melody couldn't help but laugh at that sentence.

"Doctor they moved, it's a different house."

"Yeees… That's it."

"Doctor what are you doing here?" asked Craig.

"Social call." he answered. "Thought it was about time I tried one out. How are you?"

"I'm...fine."

"This is the bit where I say 'I'm fine too', isn't it?" he asked to Melody who nodded in answer. "I'm fine too." he said with a smile. "Good. Love to Sophie! Bye!" And he turned around, ready to go.

Melody smiled sheepishly at Craig, knowing how it could be confusing.

But as the door step light flickered, she heard him mutter:

"Something's wrong." And he entered the house, pulling out his sonic screwdriver, beginning to scan the place. "On your own you said, but you're not. You're not on your own!" he said as he grabbed Melody's hand and started to climb the stairs.

"Just shhh!" said the girl and Craig together.

"Increased sulphur emissions and look at the state of this place! What are you not telling me?"

"Doctor please!"

"Shhh"

"Doctor listen to him, please!"

"Shhhhh!"

He walked to a door and burst into it, pointing his sonic.

"Whatever you are, get off this planet!"

Craig and Melody sighed as a baby started crying, Craig's baby.

"You've woken him!"

He took the baby in his arms and they all went back downstairs to the kitchen.

"So when you said on your own…" the Doctor said, opening the fridge and closing it after taking a bottle of milk.

"He meant with the baby, yes!" Melody said.

"Because no-one thinks I can cope on my own, which is so unfair because… I can't cope on my own with him!" Craig said, desperate. "I can't, he just cries, all the time! I mean, do they have off-switches?"

"Human beings, no, I've checked." the man in a bow tie answered, sitting at the table and starting to read the books in front of him.

"No, babies!"

"Same difference. Sometimes this works though." he said. Placing his index finger on his mouth and shushing the baby who was crying, making him instantly stop.

"Can you teach me to do that?" asked Craig.

"Probably not."

"Oh please! Come on, I need something, I'm rubbish at this."

"At what?" asked the Doctor.

"Being a dad! You read all the book they tell you you'll know what to do if you follow your instinct. I have _no_ instinct!"

"Don't be so rude with yourself Craig, you're a good dad." said Melody. Craig thanked her.

"That's what this weekend is about: to prove to people I can do this one thing well." he continued.

The Doctor laughed as he read something in a book.

"So what did you call him? Will I blush?" he asked.

"We didn't call him 'The Doctor'!" answered Craig.

"No I didn't think you would…"

"He's called Alfie. What are you doing here anyway?"

The Doctor leaned closer to Alfie and listened to what he said.

"Yes, he likes that, Alfie. Though personally he prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All."

"Sorry what?"

"That's how he calls himself. He speaks baby." said Melody, pointing at the Doctor who got up.

"Of course you do. I don't even know when his nappy needs changing." Craig said, sitting where The Doctor was sitting few seconds ago. "I'm supposed to be his dad."

The Doctor massaged Craig's shoulders as Melody was playing with Alfie. He looked at her and smiled: she was good with children.

"He's wondering where his mum is? Where is Sophie?" he asked Craig.

"She's gone away with Melina for the week end, needs a rest."

"No he's your dad, you can't call him Not-Mum!" said the Doctor.

"Not-Mum?!" exclaimed the man.

"That's you. Also Not-Mum that's me. others are peasants… that's a bit unfortunate. And Melody is … Beauty?! Oi! Watch it! She's mine!" the Doctor exclaimed, making the girl laugh.

"Aw Stormy, that's cute." she said to the baby.

She played with him as the Doctor was talking about the Alignment of Exedor.

"Sounds nice." said Craig as the Doctor was picking the newspaper back.

"So this is me popping in and popping out again, just being social, just having a laugh. Nevermind that…"

Melody looked up. Ah the noticing face.

"Nevermind what?" asked Craig who saw it too. "You noticed something, you've got your noticing face on. I have nightmares about that face!"

"No! Given up all that, done with noticing things." he said, fighting himself to stop noticing. The lights flickering. "Didn't even noticed that for example. Got to go." he shook Craig's hand and grabbed Melody's one. "Good seeing you Craig, goodbye Stormageddon." and he ran off.

"No wait wait ! Can you do the shushing thing?" asked the blonde man.

"No it only works once and only on life forms with underdeveloped brains."

"Hang on, you said farewell tour?"

The Doctor shushed him and he and Melody walked towards the TARDIS.

"Just go, stop noticing, just go, stop noticing."

"Doctor, you should really get back. You can't leave them, not Craig, not Alfie. There's something happening here, they are in danger." Melody said, standing in front of him. "And you know that, you _know_ it's important."

* * *

 **Leave me your impressions and your assumptions about what's going to happen in the story arch, that'd be funny ;)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Helloooo Stoneheeennge! What? Wrong episode? Oh well...**

 **A MASSIVE thank you to Turtle, you girl literaly made my day! I suppose you're in the States because when you leave me your reviews it's early morning for me, which means I always receive your review just before heading to work! Also thanks to the other people (OtakuWhovian1224 and AubriannaRose) for their reviews :)**

 **So here comes chapter 17, this one is long as there was much more dialogues but not so much action but it'll come soon, I promise! I still hope you'll like it.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 17_

"Tzeeeeew, tidly-up it goes down-tidly down! For only £49.99, which I think is a bit steep but then again it's your parent's cash and they'll only waste it on boring stuff like lamps and vegetables, yaaaawn!"

Melody smiled: he was such a child. They both found a job in the department store near Craig's house and they were in the toy department. Children were all around him as he was flying a little toy plane while she was organizing a pile of plushes. She smiled again: he was good with children.

"Nobody panic, but I appear to be losing control." he said just before the toy crashed into Craig.

He leaned in and talked to the children while Melody was welcoming the man with his baby in a stroller.

"Melody? What you and him are doing here?"

"Craig! We work in a shop now, here to help. They even gave us a badge with our names in case we forget who we are. Useful since it tends to happen to me…" the Doctor came up and said.

"But you were leaving, the Alignment of...Exedor, what about that? One chance to see it you said." Craig said.

"Well we were on our way… Saw a shop, got a job, you got to live in the moment!" the Doctor said, a bit embarrassed. "Hey! Mind Yappy! The robot dog, not so much fun as I remember."

"Hard night Craig was it?" asked Melody.

As he was talking with the Doctor and Stormy, Melody saw something move at the end of the section.

"Doctor!" she called. "Silver rat over here!"

He quickly came and started to search.

"See! You're here for a reason, you've noticed something and you're investigating it, because it's you, it's got to be alien and dangerous."

"Sheila Clark, went missing Tuesday. Atif Ghosh, last seen Friday. Tom Luker, last seen Sunday." said Melody, handing him the newspaper.

"Why's that not on the front page?" asked Craig.

"Page one has an exclusive on Nina, a local girl who got kicked of Britain's Got Talent. These people are on page 7, 19, 22. No-one noticed, they're far too excited about Nina's journey, which in fairness, is quite inspiring." the Doctor answered.

Melody took the stroller and followed him into the child clothing department.

"Plus there are these power fluctuations which coincide with the disappearances." she added.

"But that's just the council putting in new cables, isn't it?" Craig said.

As they stopped in front of a broken lift, the Doctor put out his sonic screwdriver and fixed it.

"Oh yes, that's it, mystery solved, wasting our time. Now you can go home and we can go to Exedor. Goodbye, and here's a lift."

"Do I look like I'm stupid?" he said stepping into the lift with the stroller.

"Aha, quiet Stormy!" the Time Lord laughed. Then he hesitated to say more to Craig but finally: "Alright! There's more.". And he and Melody went inside the lift too. "Just between you, me, Melody and Stormy, don't want to frighten the punters. Someone's been using a teleport relay right here in this shop. Missing people last seen in this area. Before you ask: CCTV has been wiped." he said putting a finger on Craig's lips to shush him.

"A teleport? Like… a beam-me-up-teleport, like in Star Trek?"

"Exactly. Someone's been using a beam-me-up-Star-Trek-teleport. Could be disguised as anything."

"As a lift for example." Melody muttered as the lights flickered again and they were now in the Cybership.

"Was that the lights again?" asked Craig.

"Yeah that must be the lights." the Doctor answered with a high-pitched voice. He cleared his voice and said "Keep looking at me Craig, just keep looking."

"Why?"

"Well because, because… because I love you Craig!" he said, pulling him into an embrace as he was starting to turn around.

"You love me? I thought you were with Melody." the man answered, making the girl raise her eyebrows. What?

"It's always been you." the Doctor said.

He struggled to find the right setting of his screwdriver for the quick reverse.

"Doctor, are you going to kiss me?"

"Would you like that? I'm a bit out of practice but I had wonderful feedback." he answered, still struggling.

Melody took it from his hand, pointed, and thought. Sparks went out of the button and they were back into the lift, in the department store.

"What happened? Where were we?" Craig cried out as he finally had seen they were not in a lift moments ago.

"How did you do that?" the Doctor asked, surprised.

"Psychic interface!" she said, walking out of the lift, pushing the stroller.

"They must have linked the teleport relay to the lift, but Melody fused it! They can't use that again, stuck up there on their spaceship." the Time Lord explained to Craig.

"What were those things?" he asked.

They stopped and the Doctor turned around to face Craig.

"Cybermen…"

"Ship… Spaceship… We were in space?!"

They walked out of the department store, holding up the sonic screwdriver, the Doctor scanned the night sky.

"It's got to be up there somewhere, can't get a fix, it must be shielded."

"But she fused the teleport, she sorted it. They can't come back."

"No Craig, it just bought a little time." Melody spoke up. "We still got to work out what they're doing before we can stop it."

"But if they got the teleport, and are that evil, why didn't they invaded already?"

"Craig, take Alfie and go." said the Doctor.

"No. I remember from last time, people got killed, people that didn't know you. I know where it's safest for me and Alfie, and that's right next to you."

"Is that so?"

"You always win, you always survive!"

A soft smile enlightened the Doctor's lips as he looked at Craig and Melody. She knew he was thinking about his upcoming death.

"Those were the days…Craig... Ah, alright! Maybe those days aren't quite over yet." he gave in. "Let's go and investigate. There's no immediate danger now."

And they walked back into the store.

The Doctor told Craig to go and investigate.

"Am I your baby too?" Melody asked with a teasing smile. "That's why you kept me, so people like you."

"You're my baby!" he answered with an amused smile. "But you know you're not my… 'pet'." he continued, more seriously, taking both of her hands in his. "You're my Mystery Girl, the biggest mystery in the universe, the only mystery worth solving."

A slight smile crossed his lips and he kissed her forehead before walking towards Val, a saleswoman.

After she mentioned the silver rat, they headed to the toy department, where she had last seen it. The Doctor scanned the area with his sonic, also carrying a net.

"Silver rat, glowing red eyes…"

"Yes, then it zizzed off. I wanted to get one for my nephew, but stockroom say there's no such item." Val said.

"I bet they do…" he mumbled.

"But what was it then? Answer me that." she asked. Suddenly a noise came from a nearby department. "What's all that hullabaloo?"

"That must be Craig, Doctor." Melody said. And they ran off to ladies wear department.

"Hello everyone! Here to help!" the Doctor spoke up, interrupting Kelly the saleswoman and George the security guard, who were getting suspicious about Craig.

"Hello Doctor, hello Melody." they said.

"Has anyone seen a silver rat?" he simply asked. "No… Okay, long shot. I see you've met our friend, Craig. Nice uniform George." he continued, making a little whistle to compliment him.

"Oh thank you Doctor, well, if he's with you, that's alright then."

Melody could see Craig's look, hardly understanding how the Doctor managed to be liked by everyone.

"Sorry!" said Kelly. "I thought he was hassling me, 'cause that's the last thing I need today, 'cause Shona has not turned up, so I'm doing twice the work for the same money, if you don't mind-"

"Sssssshhhhhhh…"

The Doctor shushed her like he did before with Alfie and Craig.

"Please teach me how to do that."

"No Craig." Melody said with an amused smile.

"Hold on, un-shhh. Shona?" the Doctor asked to Kelly.

"My supervisor. She has meant to be in today but never showed up."

"Where did you last see her?" the red haired girl asked.

* * *

After Kelly said she saw Shona for the last time in the changing rooms, they headed towards it.

"How do you do that? It's a power, isn't it? Some sort of weird alien hypnotic power, I bet you excrete some sort of gas that makes people love you."

Melody laughed a bit.

"Would that I could, Craig." he said, opening a curtain. They heard a scream rise from the changing room, where a woman was trying clothes. "Ah sorry ma'am! I'd try that in red if I were you."

Melody let them discuss whether or not Craig loved the Doctor and headed towards the end of the corridor, to the last changing room, remembering a little that there was something wrong there.

"Doctor?"

He joined her, scanning the area with the sonic.

"Yes, good Melody… Right here. Yesterday, a Cyberman took Shona." he said, discreetly taking Melody's hand.

"A Cyberman? I thought it was a silver rat." Craig said.

"The rat is a Cybermat, it's a transmitor that, well, transmits to the Cybermen." Melody cut in before the Doctor had the time to be rude without knowing it again. Somehow, he can be loved by everyone, but is completely not aware of how to behave among normal people.

They all headed back to the women's department full of clothes, bags, jewels and perfumes.

"Cybermats are very small, very deadly, they collect power like bees collect pollen." the Doctor explained. "One of them has been sucking the electrical energy here, but why a shop? Why not a nuclear power station?" he continued, pacing up and down, thinking.

"Ok, why?" Craig asked.

"Let's ask it. We wait for the shop to shut, we stake the place out, and grab ourselves a Cybermat."

"And this is just a coincidence, is it? Aliens in Colchester, aliens twice in my life, happening to me just when you turn up!"

Craig seemed to be really mad at the Doctor this time, but maybe he was just afraid and did not really understand what was going on. Alfie started to cry as his dad and the Doctor were shouting. Melody stepped forward and took Alfie in his arms, trying to calm him down and said:

"Oi, shut up you two! Craig, it's not his fault, if you knew how many coincidences are scattered along my life stream, you wouldn't believe it.". She paused for a second, looking briefly at the Doctor. "If it wasn't for these aliens and the Doctor you may have never told Sophie you loved her and Alfie wouldn't be here. This is what the universe does for fun. Now come with me Craig, his nappy needs to be changed, I'll help you."

They both walked away to go to the toilets where they could take care of the baby, leaving the Doctor behind them, smiling on how she managed to avoid an argument between him and his friend. But soon it faded as his eyes laid on a couple walking along the different sections. A red haired girl and long-nosed blonde man. Amy and Rory. A little girl ran to ask Amy an autograph. He was on the point to call her but soon the little spark of happiness in his eyes faded as he knew he could not talk to them because the next day was his last. So the Doctor hid behind some clothes hanging there. When the couple left, the mother of the little girl asked her to who she was talking to and she pointed in the direction of the Doctor. He awkwardly turned around to see, on a grey wall, a large picture of Amy for an advertising for a perfume.

"Petrichor…" he mumbled, remembering when they were on House and when the TARDIS told Rory it was the name for the smell of earth after the rain. He then smiled, seeing the slogan: 'For the girl who's tired of waiting.'. "Amelia Pond…"

* * *

 **Let me know what you think! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello beautiful people!**

 **Thank you to the people who started to follow and fave this story, and to the ones who posted reviews! Again a massive thank you to Turtle: you are a sweetheart and your reviews really help me so much! Thank you!**

 **So, don't hate me, but this chapter is very short! BUT I'll be updating very soon with the next one tomorrow! I had to cut it there otherwise it would have made chapter 17 too long and it doesn't fit in chapter 19. I still hope you'll enjoy it even if it's short!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 18_

It was now night. It was all dark in the shop, just enough lights for the security guard, George, to see and walk around. He didn't see the Doctor, Craig and his stroller with Alfie asleep in it and Melody hidden behind a jewellery stall. As he left the department to go to the basement of the shop and check the lights - Melody remembered it - they started to look around for the Cybermat. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started to scan the area.

"Let's be having you then, Cybermat…"

"Shhh, could you put that on silent?" Craig asked as the sound from the screwdriver woke Alfie up.

"No! It's a sonic screwdriver, sonic equals sound!" the Time Lord answered. "Take that, I got it on my discount, ten percent off. Alfie wants you attached to him, you are way too slow when he summons you!" he continued, pulling out a papoose from one of his bigger-on-the-inside pockets.

"Will he never stop reviewing me!"

"Never, that's parenthood! You should've called a babysitter." the Doctor said. He leaned in to listen to Alfie. "No you can't have Melody as a babysitter!"

Melody chuckled and then froze.

"George! He's going to be attacked by a Cyberman!" she exclaimed.

"Ok, where is he?" he asked her.

"No, you two stay there and grab that Cybermat, otherwise you'll miss it! I'll save George. Is that gold?" she quickly said, pointing at his watch.

"No no no, there's no way I let you out of my sight again!" he protested, trying to prevent her from taking his watch. "Melody no!"

She managed to take his watch off his wrist and looked up at him.

"I won't let him die for nothing, and I know you wouldn't too, but if I don't go now, he's dead, and you two have to stay here to grab that Cybermat. I'll be fine, when you're done just meet me at the electrics panel in the basement.". She quickly kissed his cheek and ran off to save George.

"Melody!" he tried to call her back. He knew he couldn't follow her, she said so, he had to be here.

And the beeping coming along proved him right.

Melody pushed the door and entered the basement of the shop. It was really dark as the lights kept flickering, supposedly due to the council putting in some cables. Pipes were running along the dusty walls and she followed them until she saw the light of a torch. She could see George a few steps away.

"George!" she called him. "George get out!"

The man turned to look at her, surprised she was there and obviously not understanding why he should get out.

Suddenly a metal noise echoed in the empty basement and out of a near dark corner, a Cyberman appeared. He was already close to George and only needed to shoot him as they needed him dead anyway. She ran right towards the Cyberman, pushing George to the side. The Cyberman raised his arm, ready to shoot, but he was slow, way too slow and Melody reached him in a few seconds.

She pulled out the Doctor's golden watch and put it on the Cyberman's core located on the chest, remembering this trick from one of the classic episodes and from when the Doctor was with Clara. The metal creature started to shake as the gold was creating a short in his system. In a last attempt, he waved his raised arm and pain flashed in Melody's head as he knocked her down.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Helloooo! Have you seen the Series 9 trailer?! it's amazing! And personally even more knowing that every bit of it is a Moffat hint! Whay do you think?**

 **Talking of which... I thought I'd warn you: I have already dropped hints of what is going to happen in my stories archs within the story, scattered here and there, and in the author's notes. Have fun finding them and have a nice day ;).**

 **Thank you again guys for the faves/follows and the lovely reviews (especially you Turtle!), keep 'em coming! :) If you think this story is worthy of a share, then share it and let's spread it like you spread nutella on bread! (not the best simile I've ever made, I know!). I was very honoured when my friend - who knows all the stories archs - told me that if I'd keep writing like this I should be hired by BBC to write episodes for Doctor Who. I think he has gone bonkers, but I am still honoured that he thinks that. That'd be the dream.**

 **Anyway, I should stop rambling and let you get on with Chapter 19!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 19_

Warmth.

That was the first thing that came to her mind: warmth. Melody felt like she was floating in an incredibly soft and warm cloud. It felt so good, so comfortable she could not bring herself to open her eyes.

But as soon as her thoughts were forming more clearly, pain flashed through her head, from the left side to the right, making her frown deeply and finally open her eyes. The light of the lamp on the bedside table blinded her, making her close her eyes with a moan as it was intensifying her headache. A few moments later, she tried again, protecting her eyes with her hand and trying to sit up on the bed as she was looking around, confused.

She was in a bedroom but Melody did not recognize it: this was a room she had never seen before.

She blinked many times, trying to remember what happened and slowly, in a blurred way, her brain shown her the shape of the Cyberman she fought in the shop basement. So where was she now?

"Doctor?" she called. She tried to get up and after a wobbly standing up, she made few steps before dark spots began to float in her vision and a buzzing sound started to fill her ears. "Doctor?" she called again, faintly this time. As she blinked many times to clear her vision, the world around her started to move.

But as her legs were no longer supporting her and her body was on the point to collapse on the ground, footsteps approached and arms grabbed her, lifting her up and carrying her back to the bed. As a small breeze was stroking her face, the dark veil inside her eyes started to fade and so did the buzzing in her ears, letting her see and hear the world again. The Doctor was sat on the edge of the bed, next to her and waving what appeared to be a magazine to give her fresh air, a worried look painted on his face. She couldn't help but smile, relieved, making him smile in return.

"Hey… Are you ok?" he asked.

She nodded a yes in answer before asking with a croaky voice: "Is George ok?"

"Yes, yes he is, thanks to you Melody, you did it, you saved him. It was a brilliant idea you had, but the big fella didn't like it. He gave you quite a whack on the head."

She tried again to get up, taking her time this once. She walked up to the mirror.

"So we are at Craig's yeah?"

"Yes."

She looked at the damage: she had a big bruise on the left side of her face, where the Cyberman hit her.

He even made a cut on her brow bone.

The Doctor got up and rested his hands on her shoulders behind her.

"I am sorry I didn't come to find you sooner when we were at the shop. I tried, I did I swear but when we came after grabbing that Cybermat, you were already on the ground. Hopefully George ran away."

"It's ok Doctor, don't worry." she said. She frowned looking at her injuries, wanting to erase them and the pain they were causing. "Why didn't the Cyberman take me? Why did he leave me? They could have used the parts..." she asked, distracted as she was still thinking of her injuries.

A few seconds later, a golden light started to glow on the side of her head, where the bruise and the cut were, making her gasp and the Doctor behind her remove quickly his hands from her, his eyes widening. In a heartbeat, the injuries disappeared and so did the light.

"Maybe because of that…" said the Doctor, hesitantly. He pointed his fingers at her, uncertain. "You can do that, you can heal yourself… this was regeneration energy! Ha!" he let out in a small excited scream before covering his mouth. "Oh that's brilliant."

"But my body is human, they could have taken me! Not that I'm complaining though, but I just don't understand."

"They scanned you and your DNA isn't purely human, so they probably thought you wouldn't be compatible."

Melody nodded in answer as he was smiling to her before asking: "How did you know I was up? I didn't call you very loudly…"

"Babyphone!" he said pointing at a little talkie-walkie-like object on the bedside table and pulling one out of his coat pocket. The one in his hand started to transmit the crying of a baby, making them look at it, intrigued. "Oh no, that one must be Alfie's, Craig went out to buy some milk, I don't know what to do!"

Melody rolled her eyes with a smile as she went to Alfie's room, the Doctor following her. They both entered the room and leaned on Alfie's bed, trying to comfort the crying baby.

"Hey, really, stop crying, you've got a lot to look forward to, you know." the Doctor said. "A normal human life on Earth. Mortgage repayments, the nine to five, a persistent nagging sense of spiritual emptiness. Save the tears for later, boy-o." he continued. He rubbed his eyes. "Oh, no... That was crabby. No, that was old. But I am old, Stormy. I am so old. So…" he stopped himself, sighing. He did not want to say he was near the end in front of Melody.

The baby stopped crying and Melody took him in her arms, wrapping a cover around him. The Doctor kissed Alfie's head, resting his hand on the girl's back.

"You, Alfie Owens, you are so young, aren't you?" he continued. "And, you know, right now, everything's ahead of you. You could be anything."

The baby babbled in answer.

"Yes, I know. You could walk among the stars. They don't actually look like that, you know. They are rather more impressive." The Doctor said, taking out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it to the little boy's bed lamp projecting stars on the walls and making appear a wonderful holographic starscape. Melody, as much as the baby was amazed by the view going round slowly on the walls.

"Yeah. You know, when I was little like you, I dreamt of the stars. I think it's fair to say in the language of your age, that I lived my dream, I owned the stage, gave it a hundred and ten percent. I hope you have as much fun as I did, Alfie." he said, kissing again the baby's head. "Your dad's trying his best, you know. Yes, I know it's not his fault he doesn't have mammary glands. No, neither do I. And no you can't have Melody's!" he exclaimed, making the girl laugh.

Suddenly, they heard a beeping not far from them.

"Why is there a sinister beeping coming from behind us?" the man in a bow tie asked. They turned around to see the Cybermat came back to life and made its way to Alfie's room and was now gnashing its teeth at them.

"Oh no you don't!" exclaimed the Doctor, pointing the sonic towards it and sonicked it, making it spark. The Doctor took Melody's hand and said: "Come on, run! it's only stunned!"

They ran down the stairs to the kitchen, the Doctor making sure she did not fall with the baby in her arms.

"Ok, let's go outside!" he said, opening the window and making them go out, closing the door behind him. When he saw he dropped his sonic inside he let out a "Oops" and grabbed the phone Craig gave him before, dialling the dad's number.

"Come on Craig, pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up!"

"He's inside Doctor! The Cybermat will get him!" Melody exclaimed.

The Doctor handed her the phone and kissed her forehead and Alfie's before running towards the window and smashing it to land in the kitchen.

"Craig!" he called. The man was fighting with the Cybermat who already had jumped at his throat.

"Where's Alfie?!" he asked.

"Safe, with Melody!"

"Get it off me!"

"I think I can find the right frequency, shut it down again!" the Doctor said.

"Kill it!" shouted a panicked Craig.

"Alright, move!" the Doctor ordered to Craig as he tried to sonic it with a new frequency. But the little silver rat just leaped onto the Doctor and tried to kill him instead of Craig. "Argh! Baking tray, Craig! Baking tray!" he exclaimed trying to hold back the Cybermat.

Craig took the baking tray nearby and as soon as the Doctor pushed the little robot away from him they both jumped on it and blocked it with the baking tray before the Doctor heard Melody behind him through the broken window:

"It's shielded from metastatic energy!"

"Ah! Of course!" he said, facepalming himself.

"Of course!" said Craig sarcastically.

"Don't worry I've got an app for that! Ok, stand back!"

The Doctor sonicked it again and this time the Cybermat got deactivated.

"Success. That was amazing! You must be really, really strong. That thing should have had you easily." he said to Craig.

"Is it definitely dead?"

"Inactive yes. Technically never been alive. It was _playing possum_ before to take us by surprise." he explained, panting. "Bravo!" he continued, applauding for Craig.

When the dad saw his son in Melody's arms, he rushed to her and took his child in his arms.

They all went to the living room where Craig started to walk up and down the room to try and make Alfie sleep while the Doctor was ripping the Cybermat opened and Melody was watching him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I'm knackered. That thing was eating up the electricity?" asked Craig while sitting on the sofa.

"And transmitting it up to the Cybership. But why? Why do they need power? Why are those conversions not complete yet, and what are they doing up there?

"You said you were going to look at its brain." suggested Craig, yawning.

"No, I had to wipe its brain. Now I can reprogram it and use it as a weapon against them."

"The Cybermat came after us?'

'No, after me.' said the Doctor.

"They sent it after us." Craig insisted.

"After me. Because of me, you and Alfie nearly died. And so did Melody. Do you still feel safe with me, Craig?" the Doctor asked seriously.

"You can't help who your mates are."

"No. I am a stupid, selfish man. Always have been. I should have made you go. I should never have come here."

"What would have happened if you hadn't come? Who else knows about the Cybermen and teleports?" asked Crag trying to comfort him.

Melody has fallen asleep on the Doctor's shoulder, too tired.

"I put people in danger." he said bitterly, looking down at her sleeping face.

"Stop beating yourself up. If it weren't for you, this whole planet would be an absolute ruin." he stated, yawning again.

"Craig, very soon I won't be here. My time... is running out." the Doctor started. "I don't mean Exedor. 'Silence will fall when the question is asked'... Don't even know what the question is. I always knew I'd die still asking. Thing is, Craig, i-it's tomorrow. Can't put it off any more. Tomorrow is the day I-" he stopped when turning around to see Craig, Alfie and Melody sleeping deeply. "Ah…" he said with a soft smile.

* * *

 **Let me know what your thoughts are and see you next chapter!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello everyone, sorry I didn't update yesterday!**

 **Turtle you are just adorable! (And you were right to worry as I'm not ok, more like coping. That was even more adorable, and thank you...)**

 **So this is chapter 20! I'll write more tomorrow as tomorrow is bank holiday for us!**

 **I wonder if you found some clues... ;)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 20_

The next morning, the Doctor stepped out of Craig's house, holding the Cybermat in his hand, ready to go and try to stop the Cybermen.

"Safe mode…" he smiled. "Clever me! Come along Bitey." he said, stroking the metal rat as if it was a cat and walk off to the department store.

Inside the house, Craig and Melody were both sleeping, not even bothered by the morning light laying upon them. A beep echoed and Sophie's voice started to speak on the answerphone, waking them up:

"So I'll be back about ten, because Melina's totally gone off on one. She's going to kill David Jenkins. I know I'm stupid to worry. I can't wait to get home to my special boys! Love you Alfie, love you Craig."

"Oh, no, no, no, no." Craig freaked out. He got up and went to the kitchen, followed by Melody.

"Doctor?" she called. "Oh no… I forgot about that…" she said, looking at the TARDIS blue paper on the fridge door.

 _"Dear Craig. Gone to stop Cybermen. Sorry, goodbye. The Doctor."_

"You idiot!" exclaimed Craig. He went upstairs to take Alfie and put him in the papoose, getting ready to go to the shop after the Doctor. The Time Lord must have taken Alfie to his bed the night before when they all were asleep.

But Melody was not moving. She was staring at the fridge door. There was nothing for her, not a single word saying goodbye to her. A strange feeling of emptiness filled her before being replaced with anger.

"Oh I hate him!" she exclaimed before taking her coat and going with Craig to the shop.

* * *

When they arrived at the department store they searched for the Doctor, Melody trying hard to remember where it was. When they bumped into Val, Craig asked her to take care of Alfie for a moment because they needed to find the Time Lord.

"Come on, concentrate, concentrate!" Melody urged herself. She looked around her, her eyes searching for something that would make her remember. From afar she saw Kelly chewing gum and her mind clicked. Kelly, Shona, the changing rooms, the mirror! "Come on Craig, this way!"

They both ran to the changing rooms in the ladies section and found in the last cubicle, the wall wide open in the shape of the mirror that was hiding it until then. Melody stepped into the tunnel that was going down, Craig following her after taking a laser barcode reader thinking that could pass as a weapon.

When they arrived in the cave holding the old wrecked Cybership, they headed towards an entry to see the Doctor just being seized by the Cybermen. Seeing this, Craig jumped out of their hideout, shouting:

"Cybermen! Get off my planet or I'll activate this!"

"Craig what are you doing! Get out of here!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"It's like you said Doctor, got to believe you can do it."

Melody stepped out of the shadows:

"This has to happen Doctor, it's important for Craig."

"Melody… What are you doing here, why did you come? You had to stay home, safe!"

"You didn't say a word to me! Not a single one! You really thought that I'd wait for you to come back - if you were to come back that is!"

"Oi! I'm not talking to you!"

"I hate you!"

At these words the Doctor's face was left with no emotions to see though, somehow, in his eyes a hint of doubt could be seen. Was she joking? Or being serious?

"Cease, this conversation is irrelevant. You are intelligent, you will be like us, you will be more than us." a Cyberman cut in.

"What? No, you don't need me, I'm not intelligent!" exclaimed Craig.

"Do not fear, we will remove fear from you. Your designation is Cyber-Controller."

They seized Craig and pushed him into a Cybersuit for conversion. The parts enclosed his body, one after the other, leaving the face free until he gets converted. The Doctor glanced at Melody, worried as this was taking a wrong turn.

"You are not compatible, you are an anomaly. We will use the parts, the rest will be discarded." another Cyberman spoke up, turning to Melody and approaching her.

As Craig's conversion had already started, they seized Melody.

"No! Leave her, let her go! Please let her go! You already have me, let her go! Listen to me, you metal morons, you harmed her once, do that again and I'll burn each and every one of you!" the Doctor shouted, rage in his voice and his eyes dark, trying desperately to break free.

The grip of their metal hands on her neck, arms and shoulders was tight, too tight, and it was hurting her. Meanwhile, the Cybersuit was enclosing Craig's face. As she tried to break free, the screens started to scramble and soon, the image of Alfie in Val's arms in the shop appeared. Alfie was crying, somehow feeling something was wrong with his dad.

"Alfie… I'm sorry Alfie, there's nothing I can do… this has to happen…" said the Doctor sadly.

"What is this?" a Cyberman asked.

"This is irrelevant, this is sound of fear."

"D'you think?" Melody asked defiantly. "Well wait and see, fellas!"

She looked at Craig, hoping that all would go to plan. A few seconds later, Alfie's cries surrounded them, Craig's fingers twitched, making an alarm start to ring.

"Come on Craig!" muttered the Doctor.

"Alert! Alert! Emotional subsystem rebooting. This is impossible." the Cybermen started to freak out - if that could be said of them.

"He can hear him… He can hear Alfie. Oh, please, just give me this. Craig, you wanted a chance to prove you're a dad. You are never going to get better one than this." the Doctor said.

"What is happening?" asked a Cyberman.

"What's happening, you metal moron? A baby is crying. And you'd better watch out, because guess what? Ha ha! Daddy's coming home!"

Melody smirked as the Cybermask flung open, letting Craig's face free again.

"Alfie! Alfie I'm here I'm coming for you!"

The dad broke free of the Cybersuit and as the metal men were confused by the situation, the Doctor broke free, using the sonic screwdriver on the ones holding Melody to pull her back behind him before running towards the surface as the Cybermen - because of the short in their emotional inhibitors Craig created - were now all exploding, conscious of what happened to themselves.

Melody, the Doctor and Craig, jumped into the teleport and sonicking it, they got teleported into the lift, back to the surface, in the shop and safe.

* * *

 **As always, please let me know what you think and see you next chapter! :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello guys! Thanks again Turtle for the lovely review and your concern :) Thanks to all my readers too, do not hesitate to give me feedback!**

 **So this is Chapter 21, finally the end of Closing Time and a Meanwhile in the TARDIS before the rewriting of... the finale! I'm excited about rewriting the Wedding of River Song, the all of Time happening at once thing is fun in my opinion. Oh and for those of you who might wonder, no my fiction won't stop at the end of the finale. ;)**

 **Enjoy! (And let's seeif you get everything in this chappie ;) )**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 21_

Back in the shop, they went to see Val to take Alfie back. Craig held his baby in his arms, kissing him, so relieved to still be there for him.

"I blew them up with love, Alfie we blew them up with love…"

"Well-"

"Yes you did." Melody cut the Doctor in, smiling at the dad and his son.

A moment later, Craig came up to Melody:

"Have you seen the Doctor? he's nowhere to be seen…"

"Oh… Let's head home then."

They came out of the shop and walked up the road, casually talking, until they arrived at Craig's house.

"Hey, whose tidied up all this?" the blonde man asked when they got in, surprised that his house was now all clean.

Just as if the Doctor had been waiting for him to say this, he entered the room by the window door now repaired.

"See, I do come back."

Melody bit her tongue to prevent herself from telling him some words, still a little bit mad at him.

"How did you?"

"Time machine." the Time Lord simply answered. "But even with time travel, getting glaziers on a Sunday. Tricky."

"You went back in time? That means you used up your hours. What about Exedor?"

"What about you being in trouble with Sophie when she comes back? I couldn't let that happen."

"You used up your time for me?" asked Craig, emotional.

"Course I did. You're my mate." said the Doctor before changing subject: "I notice Stormageddon's very quiet and happy. Oh, he prefers the name Alfie now. And he's very proud of his dad!"

"He calls me dad?"

"Of course Craig, I told you, you were a good dad!" said Melody.

"Yeah, I know. He's a bit thick, isn't he?" the Doctor joked with Alfie.

"Oi, shut up, you two."

The Doctor smiled and laughed with his friends before turning serious again. Serious, with a hint of sadness, like he was trying hard to hide it, but could not manage it completely.

"Well, now it's time. I have to go."

"Doctor, I know that something's wrong. I can help you." offered Craig.

"Nobody can help me. I hope Sophie won't mind. I need these." the Doctor cut in, taking a few TARDIS blue envelopes, now aware that he is the one who sent them out. That he is the one who planned all this scenery in Utah.

"Where are you going to go?" asked Craig.

"America." he answered with a small smile.

"Sophie'll be home any second. Are you sure-"

"I can't miss this appointment, Craig. Goodbye, mate."

Craig went silent for a few seconds, taking conscience this might be the last time he will ever see his weird alien friend. Melody kept silent too, not willing to intervene much in their goodbye, and already too preoccupied with what will come next.

"Wait there. One second." said Craig, walking off before coming back to them with a Stetson in his hands, handing it to the Doctor. "From Sean's stag."

"Wow." the Doctor smiled.

 _Oh he and hats, such a love story_ , Melody thought.

"You ride 'em, partner."

"Oh, thanks Craig!"

"Bye Doctor..." the dad said sadly. At this moment a knock on the door was heard, and turning around he started: "Doctor, that will be Sophie arriv-" but his voice faded as when he turned back, neither the Doctor nor Melody were there anymore, and just the window door open ajar was to be seen.

* * *

Back in the TARDIS, Melody headed to the bottom of the console, sitting on the swing and silently resting a hand on the glass column. The Doctor was up at the console, making her take off and land somewhere else. She was not mad at him anymore, not really. She was just scared of what will happen.

Melody suddenly felt like something was urging her to go to her bedroom. She got up and walked down the corridors of the time machine, letting herself guide her subconsciously until she was in front of her TARDIS blue door. Once again, as she touched the door knob to enter her room, golden Gallifreyan writings appeared on the door, disappearing a few seconds later without her noticing it.

After shutting the door behind her, she turned around to see her wall, her psychic wall on which the circular Gallifreyan writings had changed. She tilted her head, trying to find at least one circle she had already seen before going to her mirror, pulling her t-shirt up to see the markings on her back. It could just have looked like a fancy tattoo if the markings were not so… alien.

As she was observing them intensely, trying again to recognize some circles, the black ink seemed to, somehow, turn into a lighter shade, more and more until it shimmered with a golden glow on her skin, as though painted with gold paint, making her eyes widen.

What was that?

" _It is you…_ " an ethereal voice spoke in her mind, answering her silent question. She should have blenched hearing it but she did not.

"Who are you? Everyday I'm looking at you and I don't understand who you are nor why you are what you are..."

This time, she blenched hearing the Doctor's voice behind her. She let her top fall back down to cover her back and turned around to see him leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed on his chest. He had taken off his tweed jacket and had even untied his bow tie, letting it casually hang around his neck. She did not hear him enter her bedroom. He had said this looking at her, deep in his thoughts.

"I promised you that we would find out, but the more we know, the less I understand, and I have no more time left... Who are you..." he continued, his voice soft but worried of not knowing.

She shivered, lost:

"I don't know..."

"You know what's going to happen, don't you?"

She nodded a yes in answer before saying hesitantly:

"You'll find your way around."

"How?"

"You'll have to remember. Remember when you took me on my first adventure. Remember that day, and you'll find your way around."

He nodded and again, repeated in a whisper:

"Who are you…"

"I wish I knew" Melody whispered back, lost, so much lost.

The Doctor laid his eyes upon her and stepped forward in her room, closing the door behind him.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think and see you next chapter!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Helloooooo ! Sorry, took me long to do this, don't have much time.**

 **I just post you this before going to sleep! I'll write more as soon as possible!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 22_

 _London, 5:02pm, 22nd April, 2011_

The sun was shining upon London, reflecting its rays against the windows of a steam train that was whistling as it was passing through the skies of the city on a high railway and was surrounded by cars flying, thanks to colourful hot air balloons. The radios in the cars were all playing the news about the solar flares and sunspot activities, on the playground below, children were playing before being chased by pterodactyls willing to eat their sandwiches. At the corner of the nearest street, a centurion on his Roman chariot towed by two black horses was waiting for the traffic lights to turn green before making his way between the cars of the streets of London while, on the televisions displayed in the shop nearby, Charles Dickens was giving some hints about the Christmas special episode he wrote. A few seconds later though, the image changed to let a journalist present the news with, as first headline, something about the Holy Roman Emperor Winston Churchill who returned to Buckingham senate on his personal mammoth.

The senate was a big white building, decorated with red and gold banners embroidered with four letters: SPQR, standing for Senatus Populus Que Romanus, The Senate and People of Rome. And that was where the Holy Roman Emperor named Winston Churchill lived and governed.

The man was in his office with a lizard human Doctor, a Silurian, who was checking his blood pressure.

"Not too many late nights in Gaul, I hope" he said.

"Just the one, Malohkeh." answered Churchill. "I had an argument with Cleopatra. Dreadful woman. Oh, excellent dancer."

"Yeah, I can tell from your blood pressure…"

The Emperor looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, which was indicating 5:02pm.

"What time do you have, Doctor Malohkeh?"

"Two minutes past five, Caesar."

"It's always two minutes past five. Day or night, it's always two minutes past five in the afternoon! Why is that?"

"Because that is the time, Caesar." said Malohkeh.

"And the date! It's always the twenty second of April! Does it not bother you?"

"The date and time have always been the same, Caesar. Why should it start bothering me now?"

Winston Churchill, disturbed, asked:

"I want to see the Soothsayer, where is he?"

"In the Tower, where you threw him last time."

"Get him!"

After the personnel under his orders went for the Soothsayer, they brought him back to Churchill's office, throwing him at his feet.

"Leave us." ordered Churchill to the Roman guards. "Tick tock, goes the clock, as the old song says." he said, leaning in and looking back at the grandfather clock. "But they don't, do they? The clocks never tick. 'Something has happened to Time', that's what you said, what you never stop saying. 'All of History is happening at once', but what does it mean?" he continued, frowning. "What happened? Explain to me in terms I can understand, what happened to Time?"

Dressed with a Roman toga and his feet and hands in chains, the Soothsayer looked up at the Emperor, his wild and long hair and beard still allowing his bright green eyes to sparkle with something of a mischievous enthusiasm. The Doctor. The Soothsayer was the Doctor.

"A woman."

* * *

 _Earlier…_

In a wrecked ship, amidst the dust and smoke, a tall shape topped by a stetson hat walked towards an almost destroyed Dalek.

"Imagine you were dying. Imagine you were afraid and a long way from home and in terrible pain." said the shape, getting closer and closer, until eventually, his face could be discovered. "Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, you looked up, and saw the face of the devil himself… Hello, Dalek." said the Doctor.

The Dalek started to shout in its annoying electronic voice:

"Emergency! Emergency! Weapon system disabled! Emergency!"

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and quickly managed to open to top of the Dalek.

"Hush now, I need some information from your data core, anything the Daleks know about the Silence."

* * *

 _The docks of Calisto B_

The Doctor walked along the docks before entering a bar filled with aliens. He walked straight to the red-skinned barman and said:

"Gideon Vandaleur. Get him. Now."

"Who says he's here?" answered the man defiantly.

The Time Lord abruptly put the eyestalk of the Dalek on the counter with a smirk, making the barman instantly go ask for this Gideon Vandaleur.

A short while later, the Doctor was sat at a table with the man he asked for.

Gideon Vandaleur was wearing a black robe and an eye patch, the Doctor had already seen one worn by Madam Kovarian at Demons Run.

"Father Gideon Vandaleur, former envoy of the Silence, my condolences."

"Your what?" Gideon asked, not understanding.

"Gideon Vandaleur has been dead for six months." the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and immobilizing the man. Then he flicked it and pointed it to the eye and looked at the tiny person in it. "Can I speak to the Captain please?"

After the little man nodded, the Doctor spoke up again:

"Hello again! The Teselecta time-travelling, shape-shifting, robot powered by miniaturized people… Never gets bored of that! Long time since Berlin."

"Doctor, what have you done to our systems?" asked the Captain.

"They'll be fine if you behave. Now, this unit can disguise itself as anyone in the universe, so if you're posing as Vandaleur, you're investigating the Silence. Tell me about them." deduced the Doctor.

"Tell you what?"

"One thing, Just one." he said, looking straight at the Teselecta in the eye. " Their weakest link."

* * *

 _Calisto B - Live Chess Arena:_

In the middle of an arena, crowded with people shouting at the top of their lungs, were two men sitting around a table, playing chess. Live chess to be exact.

One was wearing a stetson hat, and the other had a face that looked quite distorted and was wearing an eye patch similar to Gideon's and Madam Kovarian's.

"The crowd are getting restless." stated the Doctor with a smirk. "They know the Queen is your only legal move, except you've already moved it twelve times, which means there are now over four million volts running through it. That's why they call it Live Chess. Even with the gauntlet you'll never make it to Bishop Four alive." he continued with the look of a winner.

"I am a dead man, unless you concede the game." said the man with a hoarse voice.

"But I'm winning." stated the Doctor, leaning in.

"Name your price."

"Information."

"I work for the Silence. They would kill me." said the player.

"They are going to kill me too very soon." answered the Doctor. "I was going to lie down and take it, but you know what? Before I go, I'd like to know why I have to die."

"Dorium Maldovar is the only one who can help you."

"Dorium's dead. The Monks beheaded him at Demons Run." said the Doctor, obviously still affected by the blue-skinned, fat man's death.

"I know." he said with a smile. "Concede the game, Doctor, and I'll take you to him."

The Doctor's lips twitched a small smile before he decided to concede the game.

* * *

 _The Seventh Transept:_

The Doctor and Gantok, the man from the Live Chess, walked into the catacombs, where the Headless Monks kept the leftovers. Spider webs, dust and roots were all over the place, and skulls on the floor and in the walls were stored by the thousands.

"Watch your step, there are traps everywhere." said Gantok, holding a torch.

As some skulls seemed to twitch, the Doctor said:

"I hate rats!"

"There are no rats in the transept."

"Oh, good."

"The skulls eat them" Gantok added.

At those words, all the skulls turned around to look at the newcomers with their wide, sinister and empty orbits.

'The Monks behead you alive, remember?" said Gantok.

The men stepped forward though their steps were not so sure anymore, until they arrived at the main chamber, where pillars were standing there with squared and well decorated boxes on them.

"Why are some of them in boxes?" asked the man in a stetson.

"Because some people are rich and some people are left to rot." the other answered. "And Dorium Maldovar was always very rich."

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and opened Dorium's box. A fat blue head was resting in it, eyes closed. A few seconds later thought, Dorium's head sneezed, making the Doctor jump, not expecting this. He turned to Gantok before looking back at the head:

"Thank you for bringing me, Gantok."

"My pleasure, it saves me the trouble of burying you. Nobody beats me at chess!" said the eye patched man. He drew his weapon and pointed to the Doctor, stepping forward.

As a click was heard only by the Doctor, the floor disappeared under Gantok's feet, throwing him into a pit. The Doctor tried to grab his hand and pull him out, but the skulls that filled the pit attacked Gantok and soon there was no more Gantok to see…

The skulls, done with the chess player suddenly turned around, looking and hissing at the Doctor, who immediately used his sonic to close the trap door, waking Dorium up.

"Hello? Is someone there?" he asked. As the Doctor walked up into his visual field he exclaimed: "Ah, Doctor! Thanks God it's you! The Monks, they turned on me."

"Well, I'm afraid they rather did, a bit." the Time Lord said, uneasy.

"Give it straight to me, Doctor. How bad are my injuries?"

"Well…"

"Ha ha! Oh your face!" Laughed Maldovar, obviously making fun of the Doctor.

* * *

"This is absurd!" exclaimed Churchill taking his cigar out of his mouth and standing up. "Other worlds, carnivorous skulls, talking heads! I don't know why I'm listening to you!"

"Because, in another reality, you and I are friends." explained the Soothsayer, the Doctor, who was sitting at Churchill's office. "And you sense that, just as you sense there is something wrong with Time."

"You mentioned a woman."

"Yes. I'm getting to her." said the Doctor.

"What's she like? Attractive I assume." Churchill asked, making the Doctor smirk.

"Hell. In high heels."

"Tell me more."

* * *

 **Let me know what you think, was quite an exercise for description! :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello everyone, my dear readers! I hope you are all okay! I apologize for the updates coming every two days, but as I'm working 10h a day, I can hardly find time to write a chapter a day! So I hope you don't mind, I do my best. And apologies for last Author's Note: I was in a rush.**

 **Thanks to Positively Stubborn Angie, RiddlersJoker, WeepingAngels626, KyBD, Esme-chan12, Dementra, AliciaRoseFantasy, 08bdovea for the faves and follows! And reviews too.**

 **Turtle: a thousand thank yous for your wonderful reviews that keeps me writing and being so dedicated, and also for your concern. My situation hasn't changed, I hope it will, but anyway thank you!**

 **Guys, I give you my Twitter for those of you who are in guest mode (or just if you want to follow me), just to know when I update etc, tweet me for follow back so I know it's you! :) Plus, we'll be able to talk by dm, which is impossible with guests here! I mean, if you like lol. = MelodyDbn**

 **Sooooo. Here's Chapter 23! We're getting to it.**

 **Oh and, one last thing: sorry if you find some typos or mistakes, my proof reader is at a comic-con today (the lucky fella) so I wasn't going to make you wait one more day. I don't usually make many mistakes, mainly typos, but it can happen if I'm distracted. Plus I'm French, I'm not a native English speaker. So, sorry if you find some!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 23_

"Oh it's not so bad really. As long as they get your box the right way up." said Dorium. "I got a media-chip fitted in my head years ago and the Wi-Fi down here is excellent, so I keep myself entertained."

"I need to know about the Silence." the Doctor cut him in.

"Oh." let out Dorium, his smile leaving his face. "They're a religious order. Great power and discretion. The sentinels of History as they like to call themselves."

"And they want me dead."

"No." said Dorium rolling his eyes. "Not really. They just don't want you to remain alive."

"Oh that's okay then, I was a bit worried for a minute there." said the Doctor with sarcasm.

"You're a man with a long and dangerous past." cut Dorium in seriously, weighting each of his words. "But your future is infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe it must be averted."

The Doctor walked up to Dorium's box, quite angry at him:

"You know you could have told me all this the last time we met."

"It was a busy day and I got beheaded!" said the blue head for his defense.

"What's so dangerous about my future?" asked the Doctor, definitely wanting answers before dying.

"On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely, or fail to answer, a question will be asked. A question that must never ever be answered."

The Doctor took out a little notepad from his pockets and looked through what he had written.

"Silence will fall when the question is asked..."

"Silence must fall would be a better translation." corrected Dorium. "The Silence is determined the question will never be answered. That the Doctor will never reach Trenzalore."

"But I don't understand, what's it got to do with me?" asked quickly the man in a stetson.

Dorium looked at him as if it was such an evidence that a man as clever as the Time Lord would be really dumb to not get it.

"The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight. Would you like to know what it is?"

"Yes" the Doctor immediately answered, an anxious look on his face.

"Are you sure..?" asked Dorium as whispers started to rise from the skulls surrounding them and as they turned their empty orbits in their direction. "Very, very sure...?"

Now anxiousness started to turn into fear on the Doctor's face.

"Of course." he said, his words clearly not matching his expression.

"Then I shall tell you. But on your own head be it!" said Dorium, laughing at his inside joke.

* * *

The Doctor rushed into the TARDIS while Dorium's head was speaking inside the now closed box.

"It's not my fault. Put me back!"

The Time Lord abruptly put the box on a seat making Dorium exclaim in pain:

"Ow! I've fallen on my nose!"

He quickly pulled a lever, making the TARDIS take off and turned on the screen, displaying the day, date and place of his death: 22nd April 2011, 5:02pm, by Lake Silencio, Utah.

"Have you got wi-fi here? I'm bored already and my nose is hurting." complained Dorium. "We all have to die, Doctor, but you more than most. You do see that, don't you? You know what the question is now. You do see that you have to die."

* * *

"But what was the question?" asked Churchill as him and the Doctor walked into another big room covered in marble and decorated with columns and more banners. "Why did it mean your death?"

"Suppose there was a man who knew a secret." started the Doctor, rubbing his hands. "A terrible, dangerous secret that must never be told. How would you erase that secret from the world? Destroy it forever before it can be spoken."

Churchill thought for a second before answering:

"If I had to, I'd destroy the man."

"And silence would fall." finished the Doctor. "All the times I've heard those words, I never realised it was my silence… My death… The Doctor will fall." he continued before looking around him. "Why are we here?"

"This, this is the Senate Room." Churchill said, walking around.

"Why did we leave your office?"

"Well… we wanted a stroll, didn't we?"

The Doctor looked at his right forearm while the Emperor noticed he was holding his gun.

"I think I've been running" said the Time Lord before looking at Winston Churchill. "Why do you have your revolver?"

"Well…" started the man in answer. "You're dangerous company, Soothsayer."

He seemed to answer as this was all perfectly normal when it actually looked odd. The Doctor looked at his left forearm where a small black mark had been traced.

"Yes… I think I am…" he said, unsure.

"Resume your story."

* * *

"Doctor, please." pleaded Dorium's head, his voice muffled by the fact the box was closed. "Open my hatch. I've got an awful headache - which to be honest means more than it used to."

The Doctor was flapping his hands and walking up and down, stressed. He finally opened the hatch to see Dorium's head all upside down, eyes closed.

"It's like some terrible weight pressing on my-" he stopped, opening his eyes. "Oh. I see."

"Why Lake Silencio? Why Utah?"

"It's a still point in Time. Makes it easier to create a fix point." explained Dorium. "And your death is a fixed point, Doctor. You can't run away from this."

"Been running all my life, why should I stop?" asked the Doctor like an insolent child.

"Because now you know what's at stake, why your life must end."

"Not today."

He looked away, his gaze meeting the telephone unit on the console. He took the phone and started to dial a number.

"What's the point in delaying? How long have you delayed already?"

"Been knocking about." the man - or more like the child - in a stetson answered waiting for his correspondent to pick up. "A bit of a farewell tour, things to do, people to see! There's always more! I could invent a new colour, save the Dodo, join the Beatles!" he enumerated. "Hello! It's me, get him. Tell him, we're going out and it's all on me, except for the money and driving." he said to his correspondent at the other end of the phone line. Then turning back to Dorium: "I've got a _time machine,_ Dorium. It's all still going on. For me, it never stops! Liz the First is still waiting in a glade to elope with me, I could help Rose Tyler with her homework, I could go on all of Jack's stag parties in one night, and I could go back pick Melody up at Amy and Rory's and go on an adventure with the three of them! Even invite River for even more fun!"

"Time catches up with us all, Doctor!" Dorium cut him in, still upside down and starting to get quite angry at him.

"Well it has never laid a glove on me!" the Time Lord shouted back. He then smiled and with the most polite voice said into the phone: "Hello?"

" _Doctor I'm so sorry, we didn't know how to contact you. I'm afraid Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart passed away a few months ago._ " a nurse answered. After a moment of silence from the Doctor she asked: " _Doctor?_ "

"Y-yeah hum err...Yes, yes…" he answered, troubled, shutting his eyes closed.

" _It was very peaceful. He talked a lot about you, if that's any comfort. Always made us pour an extra brandy in case you came round one of these days._ "

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Dorium's voice spoke up."

"Nothing, nothing, it's just…" he mumbled, putting the phone back to its place, realising that Dorium was right. It was the time. He sighed and took out the four TARDIS blue envelopes from his pockets. "It's time. It's time…"

* * *

 _Calisto B - Space bar:_

The Doctor gently put the four TARDIS blue envelopes, ready to be delivered, on the table.

The Teselecta posing as Gideon Vandaleur looked up at the Doctor:

"Surely you could deliver the messages yourself."

"It would involve crossing my own time stream. Best not…"

"According to our files, this is the end for you." said the Captain. "Your final journey. We'll deliver your messages, you can depend on us."

"Thank you." simply said the Doctor, his eyes sad and, somehow, afraid. He walked away and opened the door, ready to go when the Teselecta got up:

"Doctor. Whatever you think of the Teselecta we are champions of law and order just as you have always been. Is there anything else we can do?"

The Time Lord just bowed his head a little, looking hopeless and got out of the bar, without a word.

* * *

"Why would you do this?" asked Churchill. "Of all the things you've told me, this I find hardest to believe. Why would you invite your friends to see your death?"

"I had to die." said the Doctor. "I didn't have to die alone. Amy and Rory, the Last Centurion and the Girl Who Waited. And Melody, my Mystery Girl, the Girl Who Knows. However dark it got, I'd turn around, and there they'd be." he continued. "If it's time to go, remember what you're leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me."

"And did you tell them this was going to happen?"

"It would help if you didn't keep asking questions." said the Doctor looking down at his left forearm where two more tally marks had appeared.. "We don't have much time." he whispered.

"And this woman you spoke of? Was she there?"

"Yes, River Song came." he said, remembering the picnic. "Everything was in place, I only had to do one more thing, I only had to die…"

He remembered himself, Amy, Rory and Melody by the lakeside, he remembered seeing the man up the hill and waving at him, he remembered turning to the lake to see the Apollo astronaut emerging from the water and walking towards it. He remembered talking to River trapped in the spacesuit, reassuring her, encouraging her to do it, to kill him. He remembered looking back at Amy, Rory and Melody. And he remembered her shooting in every direction but his, draining her weapon system and not killing him, creating a paradox. Making all History happen at once, dissolving reality.

"Well? What happened?" asked Churchill.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing happened" said the Doctor. "And then it kept happening. Or if you'd prefer, everything happened at once and it won't ever stop. Time is dying. It's going to be 5:02 in the afternoon for eternity. A needle stuck on a record…"

"A record?" said Churchill who had walked up to him. "Good Lord, man, have you never heard of downloads?"

"Said Winston Churchill."

The Emperor sniffed before exclaiming:

"Gunsmoke! That's gunsmoke!" And looking at his revolver: "Oh, I appear to have fired this."

The Doctor looked down to his hands and noticed he was holding a spear. Looking at it closely he said:

"We seem to be defending ourselves."

"I don't understand."

"The creatures that lead the Silence." he explained. "Remarkable beings, they're memory proof. You can't remember them. The moment you look away, you forget they were ever there." he continued as he looked down at his left forearm where only one mark had been added. "Don't worry, in small numbers they're not too difficult." the Doctor whispered. He held out his spear the other way, discovering his right forearm was covered in tally marks.

The Doctor and Winston Churchill slowly looked up to find a big cluster of Silents hanging from the ceiling as though they were bats. But right at this moment, a small grenade rolled on the floor, beeping. The Doctor knocked Churchill down and got away from the grenade who exploded, creating thick smoke invading the room.

Soldiers dressed in black and armed entered the room and aimed at the creatures on the ceiling, ordering each other to keep them on sight as two feminine shapes, dressed in black and holding a gun approached. One had long hair, the other short at neck length.

"Who the devil are you?! Identify yourselves!" ordered Churchill, still on the ground with the Doctor and looking at the newcomers.

"Pond" the long-haired one answered. "Amelia Pond."

"Williams." said the short-haired one. "Melody Williams."

The Doctor smiled and let out an excited laugh before screaming a panicked "No!" when Churchill aimed at them.

"They're on our side! It's okay!"

The two red-haired women came closer and as the Doctor turned back to look at them he froze, his smile leaving his face to be replaced with sadness when he saw both were wearing eyepatches. What did they do to them?

"No… No Amy, Melody…. No… Why are you wearing that?"

The girls looked at each other and without a word they rose their guns and shot the Doctor in the head.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think and see you next chapter! ;)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello guys! We meet again for a new chapter!**

 **Thank you Turtle for your amazing review, you are a sweetheart! I wish more people would review my story like you do, it's so helpful (and nice!).**

 **So, this is Chapter 24, the last one I think before the big end of The Wedding of River Song! Again not many modifications, I'm sorry but I promise you won't regret it. Well I hope. ^_^**

 **I think it'll take me a bit more time to write it though, so you'll might have to wait for two or three days for it. I want it to be as good as possible and as good as the show.**

 **Anyway, I give you my Twitter if you want to chat: MelodyDbn**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 24_

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes, his vision completely blurred. He could hear a background noise the whistling of a steam train and a newsreader on a radio, judging by the quality of the sound. He blinked a few times, trying to clear up his vision as he tried to take his gaze off the ceiling fan to try and collect some information of his surroundings.

His eyes fixed on two red blurry spots that soon became more clear.

"Amy? Melody?"

"Those stun guns aren't fun, I'm sorry." Amy said. "We wanted to avoid a long conversation."

The Doctor realised he was lying on a couch, on a train and that his two best friends had shot him with a stun gun.

"You need to get up though, we'll be in Cairo shortly." said Melody.

"Amy Pond from Leadworth and Melody Williams from God-knows-where! Please, listen to me!" he started, trying to get up, still in his Soothsayer clothes and with the tally marks on his arms. "I know it seems impossible, but you two know me. In another version of reality you and I were best friends, w-we-we travelled together, we had adventures." he continued, trying to get up, not quite managing to stand on his feet yet. "Amelia Pond, Melody Williams, one of you grew up with a time rift in the wall of her bedroom the other comes from a parallel universe and has foreknowledge and is Human plus Time Lord, both of you can remember things others can't, a-and…" he spoke, searching by all means to convince them they are not enemies. He grabbed a model TARDIS on the coffee table and held it out. "And if you try, if you really really try, you'll be able to-" he stopped, looking at the tiny TARDIS he was holding and then at the girls who were giving him a knowing look.

"Oh." he let out. He turned around and finally saw all the drawings pinned on the walls, relating all the adventures the three of them had had.. "Oh… Ooh…"

"You look rubbish." said Melody, teasing him.

"You look wonderful." he answered with his charming look.

"So do you." she admitted with a smile.

Amy caught the model TARDIS he threw at her and said, grabbing something from a cupboard:

"Don't worry, we'll soon fix that."

She showed him his usual outfit with his tweed jacket and his bow tie.

"Aaaw! Geronimo!" he said, obviously happy as if it was Christmas.

A few moments later, after a shave and a final check in the mirror he said:

"Okay, you can turn around now, how do I look?"

Both of the girls who had already turned around a long time ago looked at him.

"Cool."

"Really?" he asked, excited.

"No." Amy said.

Melody mouthed a "yes" and gave him a wink.

The Doctor walked up to them, looking at the desk:

"Cool office though! Why do you have an office? Are you guys like special agent boss ladies? What does that mean? Not sure about the eyepatch, though." he started rambling.

"It's not an eyepatch!" said Amy. "Time has gone wrong, some of us noticed. There's a whole team of us working on it, you'll see."

"And you've got an office on a train, that is _so_ cool!" exclaimed the child Doctor. "Can I have an office? Never had an office before. Or a train. Or a train slash office."

Amy and Melody shared a look and a smile, they both ran to the Time Lord, hugging him.

"God we've missed you!"

"Wo-ho okay! Hugging and missing now!" he answered, holding them tight. "Oh where's the Roman?"

"You mean Rory. My husband Rory, yeah? uh…" Amy said, searching through the drawings she had made. "That's him, isn't it? I've no idea. I can't find him, but I love him very much, don't I?"

The Doctor looked at Melody and back at the drawing of a very handsome man.

"Apparently."

"I have to keep doing this, writing and drawing things." she explained. "It's just it's so hard to keep remembering."

"We're working on her memory." Melody added.

"Well it's not your fault, Time has gone wrong, do you remember why?" asked the Doctor.

"The lakeside."

"Lake Silencio, Utah, I died."

"But then you didn't die, see I remember it twice different ways. One there was River, the other there was Melody." she said quickly.

"Two different versions of the same event, both happening at the same moment. Time split wide open. Now look at it." he said, showing the world outside the train. "All of history happening at once."

"But does it matter? I mean, can't we just stay like this?"

"No Amy." said Melody. "Time is not just frozen, it's dying, disintegrating until at one moment it'll fall apart."

Her friend nodded in answer, understanding. At this moment they heard a knock at the door and a soldier entered: it was Rory. The Doctor looked excited at Melody, both sharing a knowing look, just waiting for the both of them to realise they were meant to be together.

"Ma'am? We're about to arrive. Eye drives need to be activated as soon as we disembark."

"Good point, thank you Captain Williams" said Amy.

"Hello!" said the Doctor.

"Hello sir, pleased to meet you."

"Captain Williams, best of the bests, couldn't live without him." Amy said proudly as the Doctor was holding the drawing she had made before him, laughing. "What is wrong?"

The Doctor faced her after looking briefly at Melody and put his hands on her shoulders:

"Amy, you'll find your Rory. You always do. But you really have to look."

"I am looking."

"Oooh my Amelia Pond, you don't always look hard enough."

"Why are you older?" she whispered. "If time isn't really passing, then how can you be ageing?"

"Time is still passing for me." he said, getting away from her. "Every explosion has an epicentre. I'm it. I'm what's wrong."

"What's wrong with you?"

Though he was not facing them, Melody could see his head bow a little. She knew he was closing his eyes, in pain. He turned around:

"I'm still alive."

* * *

The steam train Amy, Melody, Rory and the Doctor were in was going forward, launched at high speed on the railway above the Sahara desert, the metal shining in the orange sunset as they were arriving at the Great Pyramids, marked by the American Stars and Stripes and "Area 52" on the side.

Disembarking, they climbed down the stairs to get under the pyramid.

"You have to put it on sir." Rory said, handing an eyepatch to the Doctor.

"An eyepatch? What for?"

"It's not an eyepatch, Doctor, it's an eyedrive." said Melody. "As no living creature can remember those things, this acts as an external storage and communicates directly with the memory centres of the brain to make us remember them."

"Only thing that works on them." added Amy.

They walked further down into dark rooms filled with Silence creatures in blue tanks.

"The Silence." Captain Williams spoke up. "We've captured over a hundred of them now, all held in this pyramid."

"Yeah, I've encountered them before. Always wondered what they looked like." said the Doctor, observing closely one of them.

"Well put your eyedrive on and you'll retain the information." said Amy. "But only for as long as you're wearing it."

"The Silence have human servants, they all wear these."

"They'd have to." shrugged Amy.

"This way." indicated Rory the Captain.

The Doctor looked at the little black piece, unsure, but put it on his right eye, just like the others and followed his friends.

"They seem to be noticing you" the Captain spoke up again.

"Yeah… They would. What are the tanks for?" he asked.

"They can draw electricity from anything, it's how they attack. The fluid insulates them." Rory explained. "And I really don't like the way they're looking at you."

"Me neither…"

"Ma'am, I'm sure it's nothing but I should really check this out. They haven't been this active in a while." he said, turning to his men. "You two, upstairs. Check all the tank seals, then the floors above. Get everyone checking. You go ahead Ma'am."

Melody, Amy and the Doctor went onwards when the Time Lord said:

"Captain Williams, nice fella. What's his first name?"

"Captain." answered Amy, not even realising that the Doctor was trying to push them into each other's arms. "Just through here."

"Believe me I tried before you came Doctor, but you know her, she can be so… Scottish." whispered Melody in his ear, making him smile and grab her hand and squeeze it before asking to go back and talk to Rory to try - Melody knew it - and set something up between the two of them, and eventually being ridiculous while trying. When he got back to the two women, Amy spoke up:

"Come on Doctor, time for you to meet some old friends."

And the three of them walked into a wide room filled with scientific equipment. Escorted by the two women, he walked up behind a woman with crazy curled hair as a woman was talking to her.

"You were right, just his presence in the building caused the loop to extend by five chronons."

"Hi honey, I'm home!" said the Doctor.

Turning around, River took the annoyed look of a wife.

"And what sort of time do you call this?"

Walking to a desk she revealed Madam Kovarian tied up to a chair.

"The death of Time. The end of Time. The end of us all." the malevolent woman said. "Oh why couldn't you just die?" she asked with disgust.

"Did my best dear. Showed up. You just can't get the psychopaths these days. _Love_ what you did with the pyramids, how did you score all this?" said the Doctor, walking around the room.

"Hallucinogenic lipstick." answered River with a smile. "Works wonders on President Kennedy. And Cleopatra was a real pushover."

"I always thought so."

"She mentioned you."

"What did she say?" asked the Doctor, obviously starting the flirting game with River.

"Put down that gun!"

"Did you?"

"Eventually." she shrugged.

"Err they're flirting, do I have to watch this?" asked Kovarian with that disgusted look again.

Melody would have liked it to go on forever just to annoy the woman to death, but she kept quiet.

"It was such a basic mistake, wasn't it, Madam Kovarian?" started River, still holding the Doctor's gaze. "Take a child, raise her into a perfect psychopath, introduce her to the Doctor… Who else was I going to fall in love with?"

"This is not funny River." the Time Lord answered. "Reality is fatally compromised. Tell me you understand that."

"Dinner?"

"I don't have the time. Nobody has the time, because as long as I'm alive, Time is dying. Because of you, River." he said, his only eye not hidden by the eyedrive getting darker and his voice starting to growl with anger.

"Because I refused to kill the man I love."

"Oh you love me, do you? Oh that's sweet of you, isn't that sweet? Come here you."

"Get him!" ordered Amy.

Two soldiers seized the Doctor as he tried to touch River. Melody looked briefly at Amy. As the girl knew what had to happen, she was not agreeing with Amy and River on the fact they did not want him to touch her.

"I'm not a fool, sweetie. I know what happens if we touch." said River.

But as soon as she finished, he managed to grab her wrist, making time move onwards as they started to glow. River managed, with the help of the guards to get away from him and asked them to cuff him.

"Oh why do you always have handcuffs?" he asked in a sigh. "It's the only way! We're the opposite poles of the disruption, if we touch, we short out the differential. Time can begin again!"

"And I'll be by a lakeside killing you!"

"And time won't fall apart, the clocks will tick, reality will continue. There isn't another way!" he said quickly, looking straight at her, knowing full well that she could understand but she just wouldn't.

"I didn't say there was sweetie…" she said in a whisper. "There are so many theories about you and I, you know."

"Idle gossip!" he exclaimed.

"Archeology."

"Same thing."

"Am I the woman who marries you, or the woman who murders you?" she asked, regaining her self-control.

"Oh, I don't want to marry you." the Doctor said, ice-cold angry.

"And I don't want to murder you."

"This is no fun at all."

"It isn't, is it?" River said, letting him see how hurt she is again.

Suddenly, Melody felt something cold and little falling on her head. She touched it and looked at Amy who was doing the same. Water. Oh.

They all looked up to see drops falling from the ceiling.

"The Pyramid above us, how many Silence have you got trapped inside it?" the Time Lord asked, looking down at Madam Kovarian who was smiling.

"None." she answered. "They're not trapped, they never have been. They've been waiting, for this, Doctor. For you."

* * *

 **Let me know what you think :)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hellooooo there!**

 **So! this is the mid-finale. It is short, very short but still not as short as chapter 3 lol. But, I prefer giving you a short, well written and efficient chapter rather than a rubbish chapter where I just write to reach a certain amount of words.**

 **So, as I said, the story won't end here, it'll continue.**

 **Sorry for the time it took and the late update, fainted at work because of the heat so I had to recover a little before being able to think properly ^_^**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 25_

"They're out! All of them!" shouted Rory as he burst into the control room. He then tried to bar the door to prevent the Silence getting in as the creatures were electrocuting all the soldiers outside the room. "No one gets in here! Ma'am, my men out there should be able to lock this down. We have them outnumbered."

"And you're wearing eyedrives based on mine, I think." said Kovarian. "Oops."

"What do you mean?" growled the Doctor, walking up to her, still handcuffed. As he asked, Doctor Kent, the woman who spoke to River earlier, started to scream because of her eyedrive who had begun to send an electric shock to her brain. "Help her!"

"She's dead." stated Amy.

With Madam Kovarian laughing like a devil behind them, the Doctor himself started to be electrocuted by the eyedrive.

"Eyedrives off, now! Remove them!" shouted the Doctor.

Melody came to him and removed his, River's and Amy's right after.

"You need to go up." she said.

As he started to walk towards an exit, Madam Kovarian talked to him:

"The Silence would never allow an advantage without taking one themselves. The effect will vary from person to person. Either death, or debilitating agony. But they will take you all, one by one." And as she finished her little satisfied speech, her own eyedrive started to spark with electricity. "What are you doing? No, it's me! Don't be stupid, you need me! Stop it! Stop that!" As she managed to take it half off, she pleaded Amy to help her. "Please, Amy, you wouldn't disappoint your pre-precious Doctor, he wouldn't let me die…."

"You took my baby from me and hurt her." said the woman in answer, looking darkly at Madam Kovarian. "And now she's all grown up and she's fine, but I'll never see my baby again. So yes, the Doctor is very precious to me, you're right, but you know what?" she asked, leaning in to put Kovarian's eyedrive on again. "River Song didn't get it all from you, sweetie."

Melody jumped in between the Doctor and Amy who was letting Madam Kovarian die, they needed to go up, they had to, use as much time as possible.

"Doctor, up, now! Amy and River have something to show you. Rory, you too!"

"Rory?" asked Amy, her head suddenly turning around hearing the name of her husband.

"Oh come on Amy, I'm sorry, it was supposed to be all cute and everything but for God's sake you need as much time as possible before the Silence gets in, so up! _Now_!" Melody said, standing right next to Captain Williams. She let Amy take care of her husband, finally remembering and taking his eyedrive off.

"Take yours off before it activates!" said the Doctor, coming up to her.

She looked up at him with a small but soft smile.

"You just go, I'll be right behind you."

"No, no Melody there's no way you're staying behind! Take it off, please take it off before it activates!"

She smiled again and kissed his cheek.

"It has activated, Doctor." she said, as the Time Lord finally noticed her fists clenched and trembling. Then she looked over his shoulder. "River, Rory, take him, go to the Receptor room, I'll be right behind you."

"No! NO! Leave me! MELODY!" the Doctor shouted, his voice breaking, trying to break free.

They started to head towards the back of the room as Melody was taking the gun Rory dropped and turning to face the door when, suddenly, the bar blocking the entrance broke and the Silence came in. She could hear the angry and fearful screams of the Time Lord but then, one of the creature spoke:

"You are unknown to us, the one whose identity is hidden in the stars, know that you will die for nothing."

"D'you think?" she asked defiantly, and then she fired, shooting six creatures before the gun was already out of ammunitions. She turned around, to search on the bodies of the soldiers behind her and saw the Doctor was still fighting to come back to her.

"Go! Just go!" she shouted "I'll be ri-"

She could not finish her sentence. An almost surprised look grew on her face as her body was touched by lightning from the creatures behind her. Pain hit her, the shock making her feel like every inch of her body was burning. She managed to take her eyedrive off, wanting to forget about the creatures killing her, though she knew she was able to remember them because of being from a parallel universe where they were just prosthetics. The truth was that she wanted the last image she will take with her before dying to be seen with both of her green, blue-shaded eyes. She looked up and searched for the Doctor's eyes, his bright green eyes. His face was ravaged by anger, panic and most of all, pain. She could not hear him, it was as though she became deaf, but their eyes locked. Fighting the pain that was burning each one of her cells, she managed so smile to him. A soft smile. He will be safe.

Not able to fight the pain anymore, her body decided it was time. Darkness started to shroud her vision and her legs failed to support her, and before she even touched the ground, she was gone already. She was dead.

* * *

 **You can now call me Moffat's daughter *evil laugh*. More seriously, let me know what you think, I'd like to know your reaction, you were all so impatient! ;)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hello dear people!**

 **Thank you all for your reviews! A special thanks to Turtle who always support me: thank you dear, you're a sweetheart! And also a special thanks to FREYA ASTRID NOVA who proof read this chapter and with whom I'll be starting a project, maybe!**

 **I'm so glad you liked last chapter, I hope you'll like what comes next!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 26_

Melody fell. She fell just as silence fell in the Doctor's ears. A deafening silence, the silence of death.

The world was still running around him, but for him, at this moment, everything slowed down, everything stopped, just like his hearts, just like her heart.

He shouted, yelled and fought Rory and River who were holding him and dragging him, tears streaming down his face, but it was as though nothing was coming out of his lips.

She hit the ground, her body lifeless.

He wanted to run to her, to take her away from the chaos around her, he wanted to bring her back, by all and any means.

She was like River, wasn't she? River had regeneration energy, Melody even healed herself when the Cyberman hit her, maybe she could… just if they would wait a few minutes, seconds… Maybe… Maybe she had not enough power for that.

Reality destroyed his illusions. If she could regenerate, she would already have done it.

As he was finally dragged behind the door, sound came back to his ears. Rory blocked the door and they climbed to the Receptor room that was at the top of the pyramid, opened to the night sky and Sahara.

"What's this?" he asked with a faint voice.

"A distress beacon. I built it, I'm the Child of the Tardis, I understand the physics."

"But that's all you've got. A distress beacon."

"I've been sending out a message." explained River. "A distress call. Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still running, and I've sent a message everywhere. To the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything: the Doctor is dying, please, please help."

The Doctor shook his head, not even to wipe the tears away from his face as he was still handcuffed. Melody just died, she died because _he_ was not dead!

"River! River this is ridiculous! That would mean nothing to anyone. It's insane! Worse! It's stupid! You embarrass me."

"Just tell him." spoke up Amy. "Tell him River!"

"Those reports of the sunspots and the solar flares. They're wrong." started River. "There aren't any. It's not the sun, it's you. The sky is full of a million, million voices saying yes, of course we'll help. You've touched so many lives, saved so many people. Did you think when your time came, you'd really have to do more than just ask? You've decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn't agree."

Tears started to stream down River's cheeks, echoing the Doctor's.

"River, no one can help me. A fixed point has been altered. Time is disintegrating."

"I can't let you die!" exclaimed River, desperate.

"But I have to die!" he said back, his voice breaking. Melody already died because of him, she will not come back, never. No one else will die for him.

"Shut up!" she cried out. "I can't let you die without knowing you are loved by so many, and so much… and by no-one more than me…"

This softened his look, though his face was still painted with pain.

"River, you and I, we know what this means." he said. "We are ground zero of an explosion that will engulf all of reality. Billions and billions will suffer and die."

"I'll suffer." she said faintly, crying. "If I have to kill you."

"More than every living thing in the universe?"

"Yes." she whispered.

Again the Doctor shook his head, trying to find a way out.

"River, River, River! Why do you have to be this?" he asked, anger starting to flow. "Melody Pond, your daughter! I hope you're both proud!" he said to Amy and Rory.

Hesitantly, Rory asked:

"I'm not sure I completely understand…"

"We got married and had a kid and that's her." explained Amy to him.

"Okay." he nodded, taking the information in, as he had always done before.

Turning his back, the Doctor walked away, facing the night. His head bowed, he thought for a moment. He could not find another way than this one. He did not want to do this, but he had to.

"Amy, uncuff me now."

The red-haired girl did as she was told.

The Doctor sighed and then turned around, wiping away his tears.

"Okay. I need a strip of cloth about a foot long. Anything will do." he said. As the others were looking at each other, annoyed the Doctor said "Nevermind." before taking off his bow tie. "River, take one end of this. Wrap it around your hand and hold it out to me."

"What am I doing?" asked the Child of the Tardis.

"As you're told." he answered. "Now. We're in the middle of a combat zone, so we'll have to do the quick version. Captain Williams, say 'I consent and gladly give.'."

"To what?"

"Just say it! Please."

"I-I consent and gladly give." Rory said, quite lost.

"Need you to say it too." said the Doctor in a low voice quite uneasy, looking at Amy. "Mother of the bride."

"I consent and gladly give."

Turning back to River, he said:

"Now River, I'm about to whisper something in your ear, and you have to remember it very, very carefully, and tell no one what I've said." After she nodded, he leaned in and whispered something very short into her ear. As her eyes were widening, he said: "I just told you my name. Now, there you go, River Song, Melody Pond. You're the woman who married me. And wife, I have a request. This world is dying and it's my fault, and I can't bear it another day." he said. Looking deep into her eyes, he let his face show the pain he was feeling. "Please, help me. There isn't another way…"

"Then you may kiss the bride." River said, starting to step forward as the Doctor was doing the same, leaning in.

"I'll make it a good one."

"You better."

As their lips touched, they started to glow and the world around them faded to send them back by Lake Silencio, just before River kills him, letting the clock continue.

* * *

 _By Lake Silencio, 22nd April 2011, 5:02pm:_

"It's okay, I know it's you. And you are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven."

The astronaut showed his face, revealing River Song, in tears.

"I can't stop it, the suit's in control. I try to fight it but it's too strong." she said to the Doctor, her voice trembling. "Run."

"Did run, running brought me here." he answered. "It's alright, this is a fixed point, this is where I die. It has to happen."

After a sob, River looked to her left, where Amy, Rory, Melody and Canton in the distance were standing.

"Why are you making me watch?" she asked.

The Doctor frowned: what did that mean? River was not there, except in the suit…

At this moment, the suit fired, shooting him dead, deleting the paradox and letting the clock tick.

 _Tick tock, goes the clock, he gave her all he could give her,_  
 _Tick tock, goes the clock, now where can he find her?_

* * *

 **As always, let me know what you think and thanks again Freya ;) see you next chapter!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello dear readers!**

 **Here comes Chapter 27, basically rewriting, but we need an en for this episode, don't we? I still hope you'll like it though, more is coming in next chapter where you'll finally find out!**

 **Again, a thousand thank yous to Turtle, I always enjoy reading your reviews, they keep me cheerful! And also to FREYA ASTRID NOVA for her support ;) And of course to all of you, ghost readers ahah.**

 **Well, I let get on with this, enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 27_

The calm darkness of the night, only disturbed, and yet sublimed by the soft hoot of an owl, was surrounding a red-haired girl wrapped in a blanket and sat at her garden table.

A flash coming from behind her, reflected in the bottle of wine and the two glasses on the table before she spoke up, not even turning her gaze away from the stars above:

"Heard there was a freak meteor shower two miles away, so I got us a bottle."

"Thank you dear." said River who just arrived thanks to the vortex manipulator, creating that flash of light. She was dressed in a military uniform. She poured the white wine in the glasses, giving one to her mother and taking the other.

"So, where are we?" asked Amy in a numb voice. She was still mourning the Doctor and Melody, not able to get over her best friends' deaths.

"I just climbed out of the Byzantium." answered her daughter. "You were there. So young. Didn't have a clue who I was. You're funny like that." she said, sitting down. "Where are you?"

Amy took a little notepad and skimmed through the pages before closing it, putting it on the table and with a sigh, taking her glass of wine.

"The Doctor is dead. And Melody too."

"How are you doing?"

"How do you think?" said Amy with a bitter smile.

"Well I don't know unless you tell me."

"I killed someone. Madam Kovarian. In cold blood."

River nodded, understanding what was playing in her mind. She said, trying to reassure her:

"In an aborted timeline, in a world that never was."

"Yeah but I can remember it so it happened, so I did it. And Melody didn't come back to life after that, she's still dead, so it must be the same for Madam Kovarian." Amy answered back before frowning. "What does that make me now? I need to talk to the Doctor but I can't now, can I?"

River put her glass on the table and leaned in, looking at her mother with concern.

"If you could talk to him, would it make a difference?"

"But he's dead, so… So I can't."

"Oh mother." whispered River, taking Amy's hand. "Of course he isn't."

"Not for you I suppose." Amy said with that bitter smile again. "You're seeing the younger versions of him running around, having adventures."

"Yeah I am, but that's not what I mean." the curly-haired woman said with a smile, taking back her glass and sipping her wine with that mischievous look of hers.

"Then what do you mean?"

"Okay." she said, putting the glass back on the table again. That was the only way to cheer her mother up. "I'm going to tell you what I probably shouldn't, the Doctor's last secret. Don't you want to know what he whispered in my ear?"

"He whispered his name."

"Not his name, no."

"Yes it was, he said it was." said Amy.

"Rule 1?"

"The Doctor lies."

"So do I." shrugged River. "All the time. Have to. Spoilers. Pretending I don't know you're my mother, pretending I don't recognise a spacesuit in Florida."

"What did he whispered in your ear?" Amy cut her off, now suspicious.

"Oh, that man… He's always one step ahead of everyone. Always a plan."

"River what did he tell you? River!"

River laughed.

A few moments later, as Rory was coming back home, he found Amy and River hugging in the garden.

"Hey! What?" he said, surprised as her wife was hugging him and telling him the good news. "Are you sure River? Are you really, properly sure?" he asked to his daughter.

"Of course I'm sure! I'm his wife!"

"Yes! And I'm his…" started Amy, cheerful. She then stopped, realising and clearly not liking it. "... Mother-in-law…"

"Father dear, I think Mummy might need another drink."

"Yes, yes." said Rory pouring more wine. "But, hum, what about Melody?" he asked with concern.

River's face sadden and she shook her head, meaning that no, Melody was not alive, darkening the mood.

* * *

 _The Seventh Transept:_

A cloaked figure, dressed like a Headless Monk, walked down until the main chamber of the Seventh Transept, not paying attention to the skulls turning their empty orbits towards it as he was carrying a well decorated box.

"Who's carrying me?" asked Dorium's voice, muffled inside the box. "I demand to know. I'm a head, I have rights! I want my doors open this time. I demand that my doors are open!"

The figure put the box back on its pedestal, and executing the head's wish, opening the door.

"Is it you?" asked Dorium, scrutinizing the figure. "It is, isn't it? It is you! I can sense it! But, how, how did you do it? How could you possibly have escaped?"

The figure who had already started to walk away took off the thick cloak theatrically, revealing the shape of the Doctor.

"The Teselecta! A Doctor in a Doctor suit!" he said, coming back to Dorium. "Time said I had to be on that beach so I dressed for the occasion - barely got singed on that boat."

"Do you're going to do this? Let them all think you're dead?"

"It's the only way, then they can forget about me." the Doctor said. Suddenly his face became darker. "I got too big, Dorium, too noisy. I've lost someone who was precious to me, so precious, and I've lost her and I'm the only one to blame for that. So it's about time I step back into the shadows."

"And Doctor Song? In prison all her days?"

"Her days, yes, her nights...well that's between her and me, eh?" he said with a small smirk.

Dorium let out a laugh:

"So many secrets, Doctor. I'll help you keep them, of course."

"Well you're not exactly going anywhere, are you?" the Doctor joked.

"But you're a fool nonetheless." said the blue head. "It's all still waiting for you. The fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh, and the question!"

"Goodbye Dorium."

As he walked away, heading for the TARDIS, Dorium shouted to him, for him to hear what he had been running away from all his life:

"The first question, the question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight! The question you've been running away from all your life! Doctor who? Doctor who? Doctor who?!"

* * *

 **Let me know what your theories are, I'm always curious. I must admit, it's quite enjoyable to create drama in a work ;) See you next chapter!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hello dear people! Thank you Turtle for your reviews :D and please, _please_ , don't call me Mel or Mels or Melo. I really don't like it sorry, there's only one person calling me "my little Melo" and he's the only one authorized to because then he kisses my forehead ^^' I'm so glad I can manage to make you feel something when I write.**

 **Thank you to FREYA ASTRID NOVA for the proof reading ;)**

 **Here comes THE chapter you were all waiting for! I do hope you will like it. With this Chapter, I've reached 100 pages on my document ^_^**

 **Again, I repeat, the story isn't over, I'll start covering series 7 after this one. Though, I must say, I'll treat series 7 differently as I have done until now with episodes.**

 **Series 7 will be with Clara (Oswin) Oswald and the Eleventh Doctor, and I'll rewrite episodes BUT, it will be like a split off series: episodes will keep the themes but the stories will go differently (to keep it entertaining and to go on with my story arch because, yes, if I keep writing series 7 with Clara, it's for something.)**

 **So, enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 28_

 _About twenty one timey-wimey years ago…_

High up in the sky where no stars were burning, the sun was burning. But was it the sun? If there was no stars left in the universe then what was that?

If the people on Earth could get closer and hear, they could say the sun does not make a whirring sound. Well some people could. Like the ones on the rooftop of a museum, running away from a Dalek.

Time was coming, anytime soon, any minute now.

Cracks were opened everywhere in Time and Space, windows giving on other times, other places, even other universes.

In a bedroom, a crack that looked like the Devil's smile in one of the wall started to shine. White and golden rays of light slipped through the edges, enlightening the room and the furnitures. The shape of an empty cot appeared in the light with a bedside table with the picture of a newborn baby. But there was no newborn baby to see in this room, nor in this house, because this newborn baby never lived. Never got to live.

The rays of light, like a living entity, stretched towards the picture and as they touched it, it glowed with a blinding white light before disappearing, as though it never ever existed.

A few seconds later though, a soft breathing was heard in the room. In the cot, a newborn baby girl was looking at the ceiling, her bright green and blue-shaded eyes already wide opened and curious of everything.

Golden circles, beautiful and complicated, shimmered all over her soft and thin skin before turning into black and finally disappear, as if absorbed.

Retracting its rays, the light slipped back into the crack she came from, and as the muffled sound of an explosion echoed, the crack closed with a creaking sound, living the wall as good as new.

The baby, who had turned her head to watch the crack close, blinked a few times and started to cry.

A few seconds later, footsteps were heard and a man and a woman came to lean on the cot.

"Oh hey sweetie, don't cry, Mummy and Daddy are here now." said the woman softly with the happy smile a mother on her face. The baby quickly calmed down and closed her eyes, drifting into a sleep full of dreams. "Let's go." her mother said as her and the father were walking out of the room, leaving the door ajar behind them.

"Sleep well, Melody Williams."

* * *

 _Two years after the Wedding of River Song:_

The TARDIS landed in a street, between a bark and a bunch of house. One of them, painted in blue, with a TARDIS blue front door had a red car parked in front of it.

The Doctor, wearing his tweed jacket and his red bow tie, walked up hesitantly to the front door, and knocked.

"Ugh! If that is more carol singers, I have a water pistol! You don't want to be all wet on a night like-" the voice of Amy Pond said before opening the door, pointing her water pistol and finding the Doctor on her doorstep. "... This…"

"I'm not absolutely sure…" he started, a bit sheepish. "How long…"

"Two years?" said Amy, firing her water pistol on him repeatedly.

"Okay, fair point." he said.

"So. You're not dead."

"And a happy new year!" he tried to say cheerfully. But his smile faded very soon. Because he knew what he did hurt Amy and because… _She_ did not came back to life.

"River told us."

"Well of course she did!" he said, knowing that River could not keep a secret like this to her parents. Especially not to that Scottish mother of hers.

"She's a good girl! Well? I'm not going to hug first."

"Nor am I."

They both waited, trying to avoid each other's gaze to not give in, but once their eyes met, they could not help but smile and laugh before both stepping between the arms of the other. Their hug was so tight. He had missed them so much, so so much. He realised he needed them, all this time, alone and mourning Melody. He should have come sooner. Just to not be alone while going through this. And then again, holding back his tears, he was feeling guilty, feeling how Amy was clinging to him, he knew that meant she also needed him. And he had not been there for her.

They pulled away and Amy called Rory:

"Mister Pond! Guess who's coming for dinner."

"Oh." let out Rory when seeing the Doctor waving at him. "Not dead then."

"We've done that. We're about to have Christmas dinner. Joining us?" invited Amy.

"If it's no trouble."

"There's a place set for you." said Rory.

"But you didn't know I was coming." started the Doctor. "Why would you set me a place?"

"Oh because we always do!" said Amy as if it was evident, Rory nodding next to her. "It's Christmas, you moron!"

The Ponds walked back inside, leaving the Doctor behind for a moment. He felt a tear roll on his cheek and, wiping it, smiled painfully. He was so happy to see Amy and Rory again. But _she_ was missing.

He finally entered and sat with them to eat dinner.

When they were finished, Amy spoke up:

"So, what are you up to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, you always come back when there's something up. So what is it?"

"Oh Pond, you're so Scottish." he said with a small smile. "Melody. She didn't came back to life after the timeline got aborted."

"Yes, River told us." said Rory. After a moment of silence, he spoke up again: "Is it just me or I really can't get over her death?"

"No. I do too…" said Amy.

The Doctor looked down. When he looked up, he said:

"I've been searching for her. Everywhere, anywhere… anywhen. All of Time and Space to find her, even her own universe…Nothing." he whispered. "I don't even who she was yet. Well I'm not sure."

"We'll help." said Amy instantly.

"Do you remember what happened on the lakeside?"

"Yes. Three different ways: one where you die, the other where you don't and a last one with Melody instead of River where you die."

"In the last version, River said something different." the Doctor started. As both of the Ponds were leaning in, listening, he continued: "She said 'Why are you making me watch?' when she looked over at the lakeside. But she wasn't there, except in the spacesuit. So why did she said that?"

"Maybe she was just seeing herself in another version, like… I don't know, some sort of an echo?" said Amy.

"No…" he said, standing up and walking towards the door, Amy and Rory following him until they get inside the TARDIS. He turned on the screen and searched for Melody Williams.

 _Error._

"Come on, you can't do that, you know her! She has to be in your records, she has been travelling with me!"

 _Error._

He fumbled in his pockets, taking out a little glass tube filled with blood and placed it in the console so the TARDIS could analyze it. He typed her name once again.

 _Error._

"No, you can't do that to me! I've searched everywhere she _has_ to be somewhere! You know her! Show me her! Show me Melody, _my_ Melody!" he cried, hitting, for the first time in this incarnation, the console. Anger and pain, that's all he could feel. Anger and pain. "Tell me at least who she was…"

The screen scrambled for a moment before putting the image of Melody's DNA side by side with River's . The Doctor looked up and Amy and Rory came closer. They all leaned in, looking closely at the screen.

"She can't be…"

"But she is…"

"But you said she wasn't…"

The Doctor quickly typed something:

"I-if I can look back, track down this…" he said, searching in the data base of the time machine. "Come on!"

A flash of light came from the other side of the console. They all looked up and saw River, standing there.

"River? River! How did you came in?! You can't use the vortex manipulator to land inside the TARDIS!"

"I'm the Child of the Tardis, of course I can!" she said with a smile before being serious again. "Demons Run was only the first part, Doctor."

"What do you mean? What did you mean on the lakeside?" he asked.

"You always ignore coincidences, don't you?" River started. "Since the beginning this was huge and obvious, but yet you didn't see it. Melody Williams is Melody Pond. Melody Williams is me."

Amy and Rory looked at each other: she was their daughter?

"I don't understand." stated Amy.

"When I got conceived, the TARDIS was in flight in the Time Vortex. This is how I got my 'plus Time Lord' part. But the TARDIS didn't just gave me Time Lord abilities. She saved my DNA in her data core and created a version of me: what Melody Pond would have been if raised in a good environment."

The Doctor stepped back, resting on the console, in shock. She was Melody Pond, all along. She was a duplicate created by the time machine but still the same person. She was the woman he married, the woman he…

Tears filled his eyes and started to stream down his cheeks. She was dead. River was here yes, of course, until she dies in the Library. Nothing could be done to save Melody Pond.

"The TARDIS is past, present, and future at the same time. When she was exploding after what happened with the Pandorica, stuck in a loop to save me, cracks were opened in all of Time and Space, even in other universes, allowing her to access one and make that echo of myself real. Melody Williams was born from Big Bang Two, the Big Bang is the beginning of Time and Space, she was the Child of Time! How could you not see this?"

"Why?" he asked faintly before anger flowed in his voice and eyes. "Why did the TARDIS didn't tell me anything? Why hiding it to reveal it only now? Now that's she's dead!"

"It had to be this way." River shrugged. "You had to get to know her for what she was, not for the psychopath she was supposed to be."

"To make it even more painful then?!" he growled.

"To make it more powerful."

Amy and Rory could not help but be moved by the fact she was their daughter. And died. They felt it in their guts.

"You married me, Doctor." said River, walking to him and resting a hand on his cheek. "But she's the one you really married. Because she's the version you really loved."

* * *

 **I really hope you liked it, let me know! I like to know your thoughts about it :) see you next chapter! ;)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hello everyone!**

 **First things first: thank you all for your reviews! Thanks for the recent faves and follows too!**

 **And of course thank you Turtle, so much! You are an absolute sweetheart and your reviews always make my day! I do hope you'll enjoy series 7!**

 **Talking about series 7, this is where it starts. This litte chapter is more to set the mood rather than the intrigue of the episode but I still hope you'll like it :)**

 **I've decided to start at The Snowmen as there was no interest to treat the first part of series 7 (though I absolutely love it, don't get me wrong.). Plus the Snowmen is one of my top favourite episodes :p**

 **So, thanks to FREYA ASTRID NOVA for the proof read, and enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 29_

A blue light was enlightening the console room of the TARDIS. The rotor, with circular Gallifreyan writings on it, was turning round and round on the ceiling. Cold silver metal had taken the place of glass and copper metal. It was all more spaceship-like, and less… homely.

Cold and hard.

Just like life.

And also more mature.

Just like the Doctor.

Sitting on a seat, he was reading a book about physics, round glasses on his nose.

Reading for the tenth time the same line, he frowned and taking off the glasses, rubbed his eyes. He then looked back at the round reading glasses between his fingers.

They were Amy's.

He had lost them.

All of them.

He had lost River after taking her to the Singing Towers of Darillium, when she went to the Library for his first and her last encounter.

He had lost Amy and Rory, the Ponds, in Manhattan when they got touched by a Weeping Angel and got sent back in time, unreachable.

He had lost Oswin Oswald, Soufflé Girl, at the Asylum of the Daleks. He didn't see her, she had been turned into a Dalek, he could not save her, but she saved him and that was what counted.

And he had lost… _her_. Melody Williams, Melody Pond. He had tried to go on adventures with Amy and Rory, even with River, But he could not get over it. Not completely. And deep inside he knew that he will not be able to get over it, ever.

He looked around in the empty TARDIS. He had changed everything to try to make it less painful. But in a way, he couldn't have prevented himself to wish to put more Gallifreyan writings in the console room, thinking about Melody's skin.

Thinking back to the soft, smooth touch of her skin under his fingertips made him shiver as arrows were piercing his hearts. He shut his eyes and shook his head in attempt to chase these thoughts out of his head. After a sigh, he closed the book he was reading and stood up, walking around in his new console room, in a Victorian gentleman outfit. Looking up at the rotor where all the names of his recent companions were written in circular Gallifreyan, he suddenly felt like he needed to breathe some fresh air, just to try to clear his mind and be less bored.

Walking up to the doors grabbing a top hat, he opened them and stepped out on a cloud high up in the night sky where the moon was shining so bright it was almost blinding, and the stars around shining like pure crystal gems.

* * *

In the middle of the streets of a 1892 Victorian London, among many others was a bar called "The Rose and Crown". Inside the comfy warmth of the bar, people - mostly men, let's face it - were drinking wine, beer or mead, barmaids were walking around between the tables to fetch the empty tankards and put more drinks in it.

Taking one empty tankard on the table and putting it on a tray, a young girl in her twenties dressed with a dark red Victorian dress, looked around the room. Needing some fresh air to clear her nose from the smell of at least fifty men, most of them working in factories, she headed to the door and walked outside in the calm little street. After putting down the tray on a barrel, she looked up to the sky, to the moon shining so bright that it was not grey, like the usual, but pure white. As pure as fresh snow, the stars around her looking like little crystals of ice.

A small winter breeze came to stroke the bare skin of her neck, making her shiver and come down to Earth. Looking around, her eyes met a human-sized snowman, quite well done. Although maybe the face was a bit creepy, she thought tilting her head to one side. She frowned a bit, her delicate face now painted with a questioning look.

Footsteps were heard creaking on the snow, as a man in a top hat passed by between her and the snowman, she asked:

"Did you make this snowman?"

"No." said the man, not even stopping or looking away from the ground.

"But who did?" again asked the young woman. "Because it wasn't there a second ago, it just appeared, from nowhere…"

The man slowed down and stopped, slowly turning around at those words. Walking back to her, the gentleman revealing himself to be the Doctor, took out the round reading glasses out of his jacket and put them on his nose, looking incredibly young… and incredibly old at the same time.

Looking for a second at the woman, he then observed the snowman closely touching the snow.

"Maybe it's snow that fell before. Maybe it remembers how to make snowmen."

"What?" she said, amused. "Snow that can remember? That's silly."

"What's wrong with silly?" asked the Doctor with a small amused smile. This girl seemed to be funny.

"Nothing." she smiled. "Still talking to you, ain't I?"

"What's your name?"

"Clara." she simply answered.

Taking off his glasses, he put them back in his jacket after having kept them for a few seconds in his hands. He smiled to her:

"That's a nice name. Clara. You should definitely keep it. Goodbye!" he said, walking off.

Frowning again, Clara followed him and called:

"Oi! Where are you going? I thought we were just getting acquainted."

This girl was definitely funny. She might have been nice to be around. All the memories of what he had lost because of himself, sweeping people off their feet and taking them on an adventure, came back to his mind. Turning around with a soft but tired and sad smile, he said:

"Those were the days…"

He then walked away.

Clara started to head back to the bar, but after few seconds of hesitation she changed her mind. Taking her barmaid apron off and leaving it on the ground, she started to run down the streets, chasing the brougham carriage where the mysterious man she had just met was in.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, let me know what you think and see you next chapter :)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hellooooo everyone!**

 **Sorry for not updating! I've worked 60 hours this week, clearly had no time to write!**

 **For your information, it might take longer to write the chapters as I am changing almost completely what is happenning in the episodes. Well except some parts that are setting everything up, like in this chapter :)**

 **So this one is mostly dialogue, setting everything up as said, it's needed, though there are few changes.**

 **Turtle, I'll always make reminders about Melody, because she's still in his hearts. And because I like writing pain! muahaha. Btw I hope you (and everyone) got everything about the skin, the room and what happened in it in a previous chapter. Just to make it more painful. I fear I've been too subtle on this one maybe...**

 **Anyway, enjoy! And thanks to Freya Astrid Nova as ever for the proof reading and sorry if we've missed some typos, we both are exhausted.**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 30_

"Oh how refreshing to see you taking an interest again. Was she nice?" asked Madam Vastra's voice on a speaker made by them in the carriage where the Doctor was in.

"I just spoke to her." he said.

"And made your usual impact, no doubt."

"No no, no impact at all." he said annoyed. "Those days are over."

"You can't help yourself!" exclaimed Vastra. "It's the same story every time, and it always begins with the same two words."

"She'll never be able to find me again! She doesn't even have the _name_ 'Doctor'." the Doctor said more annoyed. "What two words?!"

Suddenly, a thud was heard on the top of the carriage, making the Time Lord look up, wondering what it was before a head showed up through the hatch of the roof, upside down. A mischievous smile across her lips, Clara asked:

"Doctor? Doctor Who?"

* * *

 _Outside Darkover House:_

A carriage stopped in front of a big Victorian house, in the garden, covered in snow. A pond was at the front of the house, frozen.

A tall man in his thirties, wearing a black coat and top hat and a well-kept beard stepped out of the carriage. He looked like the very best example of a Victorian gentleman.

As the carriage went away, the gentleman looked at the frozen pond.

"Good evening, sir." Alice, the maid, greeted him, waiting for him at the front door.

"Pond's frozen over. Hasn't frozen since the night-"

"Since the night your children's governess died, a year ago." cut in a tall man, stepping out of the house. Passing by the gentleman, he did not even glanced at him, his eyes fixed on the pond. In his fifties or sixties, he was wearing his gray hair long and combed towards the back of his head. His face could be said to show no emotion, but if it was to, it would be disdain.

"Doctor Simeon, sir." Alice said. "He insisted on waiting."

"She drowned in this very pond."

"Which then froze." Simeon cut him in again. "You didn't find her till a month later, when the ice finally melted."

"I recall the incident." said the gentleman. "It is the sort of thing one remembers."

"The ice remembers too."

"Who are you? What do you want here?"

Holding out a business card with written "The Great Intelligence Institute" to the gentleman over his shoulder, Simeon answered:

"The pond is yours, Captain Latimer, but what is growing inside it, when it is ready, is ours. Good evening."

He walked away, his whole attitude as cold as the ice of the pond.

Walking in the streets, he suddenly got interrupted by a young woman in a black leather catsuit standing in his way.

"Well, Doctor Simeon, you're out very late tonight." she said with a strong accent.

"Almost makes you wonder what you've been up to." said another voice coming from a veiled in black figure behind him. "But then, I have often wondered about the activities of Doctor Simeon and his exceptionally secretive Institute, known to hire people to take sample of snowmen..."

This voice was easily recognisable: it was Vastra's. And the woman in the catsuit was obviously Jenny.

"Well, I am honoured this evening." said Doctor Simeon. "The veiled detective and her fatuous accomplice."

"At your service." said Jenny with sarcasm, mocking a curtsy.

"You realise Doctor Doyle is almost certainly basing his fantastical tales on your own exploits? With a few choice alterations, of course. I doubt the readers of The Strand magazine would accept that the great detective is, in reality…" he started, walking up to Vastra and lifting her veil, revealing her green reptilian face. "... A woman. And her suspiciously intimate companion."

"I resent your implication of impropriety." said Vastra. "We are married."

"More than can be said for you, eh, dear?" Jenny said with that sarcastic tone of hers.

"Now then." Vastra smiled, walking up to a barrel to take some snow between her fingers. "This snow is interesting, don't you think? The ice crystals seem to have a low level telepathic field. Almost as if it can detect and respond to the thoughts and memories of the people around it. Memory snow. Snow that learns."

"How fascinating." said Simeon with that bitter disdain in his voice.

"I hope it's listening to the right people. It could be a terrible weapon in the wrong hands, don't you think?"

"I think winter is coming. Such a winter as this world has never known. The last winter of humankind. Do you know why I'm telling you all this?"

"I am intrigued." said Vastra, her eyes fixed on the man.

"Because there's not a single thing you can do to stop it." he spat out before walking away.

"Perhaps I can't, but I know a man who can!"

"I look forward to meeting him." he said, leaving.

Walking to the side of her dear Jenny, Vastra took her hands in hers.

"Do you mean the Doctor?" the young woman said. "He won't help us. He never helps any more, you know that."

"Yes, my dear, I do. So pray for a miracle, because I think we are going to need him."

* * *

 _Outside the Institute:_

Simeon's carriage went back to the Institute. What he did not know was that, in darkness of the night, in a alleyway nearby, another carriage was parked.

A tall man was waiting next to it for the small and potatoe-looking one to tell him what he had seen with the binoculars he was using to watch Simeon.

After a moment, the Sontaran reported to the Doctor:

"They've taken samples from snowmen all over London. What do you suppose they're doing in there?"

"This snow is new. Possibly alien." said the Doctor who had knelt to take some snow between his fingers and was looking at it closely. "When you find something brand new in the world, something you've never seen before, what's the next thing you look for?"

The Sontaran thought for a moment.

"A grenade!" he then exclaimed.

"A profit!" the Doctor said back, rolling his eyes. "That's Victorian values for you."

"I suggest a full frontal assault with automated laser monkeys, scalpel mines and acid!"

The Time Lord got up and walked back to the Sontaran.

"Why?"

"Couldn't we at least investigate?" he said, losing his smile, this time being the one annoyed.

"It's none of our business."

"Sir, permission to express my opposition to your current apathy?"

"Permission granted." the Doctor said, leaning on shop window nearby.

"Sir, I am opposed to your current apathy."

"Thank you, Strax." said the Doctor sarcastically, walking up to him. "And if I'm ever in need of advice from a psychotic potato dwarf, you'll certainly be the first to know."

"But if the snow is new and alien, shouldn't we be making some attempt to destroy it? Be reasonable."

The Doctor shushed him by putting his index finger on the Sontaran's lips.

"It is not our problem. Over a thousand years of saving the universe, Strax, you know the one thing I learned? The universe doesn't care." he said. Then looking at his carriage, he added. "Now, we have a problem of our own to worry about."

They both walked up to the carriage and opened the door. Climbing inside in front of Clara, he said:

"Don't worry. No one's going to hurt you."

She looked at the Sontaran with wide eyes before blinking a few times, smile and say:

"Hello!"

"Silence, boy!" exclaimed Strax.

"That's Strax. And as you can see, he's easily confused!" said the Doctor with a disapproval in his eyes.

"Silence, _girl_. Sorry, lad."

"Sontaran. Clone warrior race. Factory produced, whole legions at a time. Two genders is a bit further than he can count."

"Sir, do not discuss my reproductive cycle in front of enemy _girls_. It's embarrassing." asked the Sontaran.

"Typical middle child of six million." the Time Lord whispered to Clara.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter because you're about to forget that you and I ever met." Then turning to Strax, he said: "We'll need the worm."

"Sir."

"You'll need the what? The worm? What worm?" asked Clara, starting to panic.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt." the Doctor reassured her. "But one touch on your bare skin and you lose the last hour of your memory." As he finished his explanations, Strax came back, not showing any sign that he brought the worm. "Where is it?"

"Where's what, sir?"

"I sent you to get the memory worm."

"Did you? When?" the Sontaran asked. Then noticing Clara: "Who's he? What are we doing here? Look, it's been snowing!"

"You didn't use the gauntlets, did you?" asked the Doctor, dismayed by his friend's stupidness.

"Why would I need the gauntlets?" asked Strax before leaning in: "Do you want me to get the memory worm?"

"You potatoe…" muttered the Doctor.

Of course, since Strax held the worm with bare hands, as the last hour of his memory was wiped he dropped the jar in which the worm was stored. They all went out of the carriage while the Sontaran was trying to get it as it had crawled under the vehicle.

"Well, can you see it?" asked the Doctor.

"I think I can hear it!"

Observing them as she was leaning against a wall nearby, Clara was giggling. Really these ones were funny. Noticing her, the Doctor turned towards her and pointed a finger at her:

"Oi, don't try to run away. Stay where you are!"

"Why would I run?" she laughed. "I know what's going to happen next and it's funny."

"What's funny?"

"I can see it."

"Ooo! Can you reach it?" asked the Doctor, suddenly forgetting about the girl. "Have you got it?"

After a second, Strax's eyes seemed to go empty and he said:

"Got what, sir?"

Stepping next to the Doctor at the front of the carriage, she took two big pieces of black leather with only the space to put three big fingers in it.

"Because these are the gauntlets, aren't they?"

"Sir, emergency! I think I've been ran over by a cab."

Pulling Strax out of under the cab, the Doctor put on the gauntlets himself to take hold of the memory worm. After searching for a moment, he finally found it and managed to take it.

"There you go! One touch and you lose about an hour of your memory. Let it bite you and you could lose decades." he said, putting it back in the jar. He then looked at Clara who was still observing him. "And you're still not trying to run."

"I don't understand how the snowman built itself." she stubbornly answered. "I'll run once you've explained."

"Clara who?"

"Doctor who?"

"Oh, dangerous question." he said, putting down the gauntlets but his gaze not leaving the delicate face of the girl. He had seen this face before. At the comic-con. It was Jenna, Jenna-Louise Coleman, he heard that day she was playing Clara. It was the day he met _her_. Thinking back to it, his hearts wrenched and pain started to flood in his veins like poison.

Suddenly, Clara's voice took him back to Earth.

"What's wrong with dangerous?"

A she asked that, a snowman in the adjacent alleyway appeared, building itself from the snow on the ground in a swarm while the Doctor, not paying attention explained:

"The snow emits a low level telepathic field."

"My snowman..."

"It seems to reflect people's thoughts and memories and because it's unusual, somehow it carries a previous shape and-"

"No, Doctor!" she pulled him by the sleeve for him to see the snowman. "My snowman!"

"Ah! Interesting." he said rubbing his hands together and walking up to it. "Well, were you thinking about it?"

"Yes."

Just as if the more she paid attention to it, the more they will be, two more snowmen appeared like the previous one.

"Well... stop!"

As more and more snowmen were surrounding them, preventing them to escape, he shouted to her:

"Clara, stop thinking about the snowmen!" and took her by the hand against a wall and made her crouch, cupping her face as he shielded her. "Clara, listen to me. The snow's feeding of your thoughts. You're caught in their telepathic f-" he stopped as they got drenched with ice cold water splashing on them. "How did you do that!?"

"Well if they appear when I think about them, then it was obvious they would disappear when I think about them melted." she says, shrugging and standing up, making a smile grow across the Time Lord's lips. "Is that going to happen again?

"Well, if it does, you know what to do about it." he said, grabbing the jar with the memory worm, ready to use it on the young woman, forgetting one teeny tiny detail she reminded him of.

"Unless I forget."

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed, let me know :)**


	31. Chapter 31

**Hello everyone! Thank you to all the new viwers, faves and follows!**

 **Chapter 31 is on! So, I must admit, there's quite a lot of setting up in this episode! things I can't cut without taking away some things making sense in the episode. So once again, this is mostly rewriting, just changing a few bits I hope you'll like.**

 **Turlte, as always I'm so happy to have your comments! You're not "rushy" in any way, I'm ok writing my fanfiction. I follow deadlines, yes, I work 50 to 60h a week, I have like... 4 different lives to manage (good lord, what am I?), but if there's something that gives me satisfaction right now, it's my story. (And a bed with a guy, but shhhh, that's not a thing to say. *covers the ears of youngests*)**

 **Thanks to Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading! Again, apologies for any typo that would have got through the proofread, we are both very tired.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 31_

"Don't come looking for me, forget about me, you understand?" said the Doctor as he dragged Clara back inside the carriage.

"We should warn people about the snow though."

"Not my problem." he only said, closing the door. As a last goodbye he put his hand on the window and wished her a: "Merry Christmas." before telling Strax to take her back where they found her.

As soon as he turned his back, the woman frowned and opened the door on the other side, stepping on the snowy sidewalk before Strax made the carriage drive on, clearing her view.

She saw the Doctor walking away, already on the other side of the road and started to follow him at a good distance so he would not notice her sneaking around.

She followed him until he arrived at a park and jumped over the fence, whistling 'Silent Night' which echoed in the almost empty, cold and snowy streets. She observed him, looking around him making sure no one was watching before jumping and get hold of something, hidden in the shadows of a tree. A second later, a clicking was heard and he got down, pulling down a ladder and then climbed it and disappeared from view. As the ladder was getting pulled up, Clara fought to pass over the fence with her dress. When she finally managed it, she walked up to where the ladder was hidden and tried to grab it, jumping but fell on the ground, missing it.

Hell that was high! She was too short to reach it. Though determined not to give up, she got up and dusted off her dress before trying again, jumping as high as she could this time.

As she felt something cold and hard against her palms, she clenched her fists around it, holding it tight, making her being suspended more than a foot over the ground. The clicking like before was heard and the ladder came down, allowing her to climb up.

When she reached the top of the ladder, stepping on a platform she turned around and watch the streets. The few people passing by did not notice a girl over the top of a tree. She looked up at the incredibly high spiral staircase heading to the clouds above her and started climbing.

Few minutes later, she reached the top. She was on a cloud! An actual cloud! She looked up and saw a big blue box: a police box.

The box was humming softly. Well, she thought she was the one humming, but she could not have said whether she was hearing the sound from her ears or from inside her.

Clara stepped closer to the box, cautiously, and when she was standing just at the doors, she held up a hand. Slightly trembling, with a soft grin on her face, her fingertips lightly touched the blue wood. It was warm, so warm and so soft.

She set her hand on the door and, closing her eyes, she rested her forehead against the box.

After a few seconds though, the humming changed and suddenly a loud sound that seemed like an exclamation echoed, making her jump in surprise.

Clara stepped back and ran to the staircase, climbing down as fast as possible, not noticing her shawl had fallen to the cloudy ground as the doors of the box started to open.

The Doctor stepped out, looking around.

"Is anybody there?"

He walked around the box before noticing a dark red cloth on the cloud. He took it and smelled it. It was Clara's.

* * *

 _At the Great Intelligence Institute:_

Walking up to a big glass globe in which the snow was swirling as if there was wind, Doctor Simeon was holding a new sample of snow. He opened a small round hatch and threw some fresh snow in it. A voice rose from nowhere, and yet from everywhere:

"Tonight the thaw, tomorrow the snow will fall again, yet stronger. The drowned woman, the dreaming child and the new governess will give us form at last. Tomorrow the snow will fall and so shall mankind. She is coming!"

* * *

 _At the Darkover house:_

A carriage stopped in front of the front door of the house. All the snow had thawed in the night, yet the pond was still frozen.

A young woman stepped out of the carriage dressed as a proper lady. Taking her handbag, Clara dressed as the governess walked up to Alice waiting for her at the door.

"Alice, how smart you look today." she said with a perfect accent and a smile.

"The governess should enter by the back door, unless accompanied by the children." the maid answered, serious.

But then they exchanged a knowing look and smiled.

"And how are the children? excited about tomorrow?" asked Clara.

"Francesca same as ever. Digby says he missed you every day. Captain Latimer wants to see you."

"Of course." She walked towards the entrance but then stopped, looking back over her shoulder at Alice. "Every day?"

"Twice on Saturdays."

"That's better." she smiled, heading towards the Captain's study. She knocked on the door and after a few seconds entered the room. "Captain Latimer."

The gentleman turned around:

"Ah, Miss Montague, you're back."

"In time for Christmas! Apologies for my brief absence, family illness is so unpredictable. You wanted to see me?"

"Francesca has been having nightmares."

"Oh young girls often do." Clara said softly.

"Every night this week, she says. Won't tell me about them."

"Perhaps if you asked her in the right way, there's no one she'd rather tell."

"Children… are not really my area of… expertise." he said awkwardly.

"There are, however, your children." said Clara, pointing out the truth.

"You have, if I may say, a er… remarquable amount of wisdom in these matters for one so very pretty, Miss Montague." he said, distracted, leaning on the fireplace mantel. "Young! I mean."

After a smile, Clara turned on her heels and walked out of the study.

"I'll see to the children now."

As she arrived to the garden, two blonde children were playing chase on the crispy grass. When they saw her, they rushed to her, calling her name.

"Ah-ah-ah!" she stopped them.

"Goodmorning Miss Montague." said Digby.

"Goodmorning Miss Montague." said Francesca.

"Goodmorning Francesca, goodmorning Digby." she greeted them shaking their hand politely. "Christmas Eve is the most thrilling day, don't you think? Now what you two have been up to while I've been away?"

"I did seven drawings, and we saw a dead cow!" said the boy.

"Well. How exciting!"

"Do your secret voice!" asked Digby.

Looking up at the windows, making sure their father could not hear her, she took back her real accent:

"Hello mates!"

After catching up with them, Clara and Francesca sat on a bench, the governess wanting to know more about the nightmares she had been having.

"They're not exactly nightmares, just dreams."

"About our old governess." said Digby. "The one who died, she's haunting Frannie from beyond the grave. Do you want to see where she died?"

They followed the boy to the front of the house, to the frozen pond. Clara observed it closely, and tapped her finger on the ice.

"She fell in there, and then it froze, she was in the ice for days and days." he related. "I hated her, she was cross all the time. In Frannie's dreams she's still down there, waiting to come back."

"Everything else has thawed but this pond is still frozen…" The voice of the Doctor was going round in her head, words flying, reminding her the more they would think about the snowmen the more they would appear. She turned around sitting on the wall around the pond and took the girl's hands in hers. "Frannie, this is important: you dream about her, what do you dream?"

"That she's cross with me." she answered with a little voice. She says I've been bad and she's going to come out of the pond and punish me."

"When?"

"She said she'd come back for Christmas… Tonight."

"I think Frannie has gone mad, don't you?" said her little brother, quite worried about his sister. "I think she needs a doctor."

At this word Clara looked up, her eyes sparkling.

* * *

 _At the park:_

Walking up quickly to the park where she followed the Doctor the last night, her feet creaking on the iced grass, Clara looked up at the shadows in the branches of the big old tree. No ladder was to be seen.

"Doctor!" she called, making some heads turn to look at that strange woman talking to thin air. "Doctor!"

Well, this was not an appropriate behaviour for a lady.

She tried to jump to reach the ladder, making people question her mental health, but she was too short and this dress too heavy.

"Doctor!"

A young woman, dressed in black came up to her:

"Oi! Madam! That's enough noise! We don't want to attract attention, do we?" said Jenny, making Clara turn around surprised.

"I'm looking for the Doctor." she answered, looking again at where she knew the ladder was hidden in the shadows of the tree.

"Doctor who?" asked Jenny knowingly making Clara turn her head back to her, a knowing smile appearing on her lips.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, let me know :)**


	32. Chapter 32

**Hello my dear readers!**

 **First of all: Thank you and welcome to all my new followers/faves ! Thank you to the ones who posted reviews, keep them coming, it really helps me writing :)**

 **Then, I apologize for the time it takes me to update. I know I already warned you but I feel like I need to apologize ^_^ Again, didn't have much time this week so I publish Chapter 32 but it's short (very short) I'm sorry it's so short but I thought that maybe you'd like a short chappie to make you wait until the week-end. I hope you'll find it short but very good!**

 **Turtle: Thank you very much for your comments, it helps an awful lot as you know it ^_^ On my two proof readers' behalf, I thank you :) And I'm glad you love how I portray Clara, she's one of my faves and The Snowmen is one of my top faves episodes, I even feel so ashamed to rewrite it. Speaking of which, it's hard to rewrite this one and change the plot because it's damn perfect!  
Oh and no, the one calling me his "little Melo" now also calls me his "cuddle-girl" or "Snow White". (He's my best friend. This is actually so cute of him ahah.) Anyway the guy I was talking about is another one ;).  
And you never talk to much! I actually wish we could communicate outside of the author's note! ;)**

 **Enough rambling now, I let you get on with the chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 32_

"Do not attempt to escape or you will be obliterated! May I take your coat?" said Strax as soon as Clara in her governess outfit entered the beautiful Victorian house, led by Jenny.

She followed her to a greenhouse filled with exotic plants, Madam Vastra sitting in the middle of them, sipping into her glass some red beverage.

"Sit." said Jenny.

Clara politely smiled to Vastra and sat down, doing as she was told.

"There are two refreshments in your world the colour of red wine. This is not red wine." Vastra said.

"Madame Vastra will ask you questions." explained Jenny. "You will confine yourself to single word responses. One word only, do you understand?"

"Why?"

"Truth is singular. Lies are words, words, words. You met the Doctor, didn't you?" asked Vastra.

"Yes."

"And now you've come looking for him again. Why?"

"Danger."

"About?"

"Snow."

"And curiosity about him?"

Clara looked down for a second with a smile before answering:

"Yes."

"What do you want from him?"

"Help."

"Why would he help you?"

"Kindness."

"The Doctor is not kind."

"Yes." Clara answered, her voice suddenly becoming tainted with defiance.

"No he isn't. The Doctor doesn't help people. Not anyone, not ever. He stands above this world and doesn't interfere in the affairs of its inhabitants. He is not your salvation, nor your protector. Do you understand what I am saying to you?" the Silurian woman said.

"Words."

Behind her, Jenny smiled, amused while Vastra's eyes sparkled with a hint of surprise.

"He was different once, a long time ago." she started. "Kind, yes. A hero, even. A saver of worlds. But he suffered losses which hurt him. Now he prefers isolation to the possibility of pain's return. Kindly choose a word to indicate your understanding of this.

"Timelord."

As the word escaped Clara's lips, Vastra and Jenny looked at each other with wide eyes. How did she know?

After a moment of hesitation, Vastra went on with her explanations:

"We are the Doctor's friends. We assist him in his isolation but that does not mean we approve of it. So, a test for you." she said, a smirk coming across her reptilian lips. "Give me a message for the Doctor. Tell him all about the snow and what fresh danger you believe it presents, and above all, explain why he should help you. But do it in _one_ _word_. You're thinking it is impossible that such a word exists, or that you could even find it. Let's see if the gods are with you."

Vastra thought the young woman would never be able to find this word. Who could anyway? This test was almost impossible to pass.

Clara, who kept her face neutral until now, leant in and with a smirk echoing Vastra's coming across her own lips, she answered, absolutely sure of herself:

"Pond."

* * *

Inside the Tardis, the time machine was humming soothingly to the Doctor while he was reading a book about quantum physics. Suddenly the peaceful calm of his fortress of solitude was broken by the ringing of a telephone.

With an annoyed sigh, he picked an old-fashioned phone.

"Yes? What? 'Trying to read."

"Miss Clara and her concern about the snow. I gave her the one word test." spoke up Madam Vastra's voice on the other end of the line.

"That's always pointless. What did she say?" he asked, a part of him still curious. As she took a few moments to answer, he pressed her: "Well? Well?"

"Pond."

At this word, all annoyance disappeared from his face, his eyes getting lost in the vague, getting lost in his memories.

Pond.

That word was the origin of so much pain, so much suffering. The answer to the reason of why his hearts were wrenched, bleeding, pierced from one side to another, torn apart... Broken.

He was broken.

And despite the solitude, despite avoiding meeting new people, he just could not suffer less.

With a trembling hand, he took off the round glasses from his nose and looked at them with eyes full of pain.

Pond.

Pond…

* * *

 **I do hope you liked it despite the lenght (well, more like shortness.) Tell me what you think, and do not hesitate to share your theories about the path the story is taking with me!:)**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hello everyone! I hope all of you are alright!**

 **So here comes chapter 33, with a bit more changes. I hope you'll like it :)**

 **Turtle: I'm glad we can talk now!**

 **This author's note is short, but Doctor Who is on telly! ;)**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 33_

As Doctor Simeon was working at his desk in his sumptuous office, the globe filled with swirling snow spoke up in a deep but ethereal voice.

"Danger. Danger."

"What's wrong?" asked Simeon, looking up and walking to the globe.

"There is danger here. An intelligence. An intelligence beyond anything else in this time and place."

"Doctor Simeon, sir!" cut in a servant bursting into the office. "There's someone demanding to see you."

"No callers, not in here, not ever. Did he leave his name?" said Simeon, not even looking at the man.

"Sir... it's Sherlock Holmes!" the servant replied, looking amazed and excited.

As soon as he had said those words, just as if it was all planned like in a play, a young man with bright green eyes entered the office, wearing a deerstalker hat, a cape and carrying a cane while holding an unlit Meerschaum pipe.

"Oh, nice office!" exclaimed the Doctor Sherlock. "Big globey thing. Now, shut up, don't tell me! I see from your collar stud you have an apple tree and a wife with a limp. Am I right?" he asked, pointing his cane to Simeon.

"No."

"Do you have a wife?"

"No." Simeon answered again with no emotions except from his constant disdain on his face.

"Bit of a tree? Bit of a wife? Some apples?" asked the Doctor in his terrible impersonation of Sherlock Holmes. "Come on, work with me here."

"I enjoy The Strand magazine as much as the next man, but I am perfectly aware that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. Get out!" said Simeon, walking up to the impostor.

"Do you have a goldfish named Colin?" he suddenly asked, pointing his cane to the servant.

Still impressed, the servant took the time to think before answering a no.

"Thought not." the Time Lord said with mischievousness painted all over his face. Then he looked at the desk behind him and took a piece of paper. "Now, ooh. I see this is one of your business cards. It says so on the front."

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Looking at how Simeon was becoming less and less patient, the Doctor's face became more serious.

"This." And running towards the globe, he shouted: "Wakey, wakey!"

He hit the globe repeatedly with his cane until Simeon stopped him, by grabbing his cane.

"That is highly valuable equipment. You must step away now!"

"We are the Intelligence." cut in the voice emanating from the globe.

"Oooh. Talking snow. I love new things." said the Doctor, excited.

"You are not of this world."

"Takes one to snow one." he said, laughing at his own joke, right at Simeon's face. As his face was still not showing any emotions, as if made of unalterable ice, the Doctor became serious again, getting away from him and walking around the globe. "Right, let's see. Multi-nucleate crystalline organism with the ability to mimic and mirror what it finds. It looks like snow. It isn't snow." he deduced, hitting the globe to support his point.

"You must leave here now." said Simeon.

"Shut up, I'm making deductions. It's very exciting." he spat out, this time impersonating Sherlock perfectly without even doing it on purpose. "Now, what are you, eh? A flock of space crystals? A swarm?" he tried to guess while Simeon was summoning his servants. "The snowmen are foot soldiers, mindless predators. But _you_ , you're the clever one. You're Moriarty. So, you turn up on a planet, you generate a telepathic field to learn what you can, and when you've learnt enough, what do you do?" he continued, sonicking over his shoulder, the doors locking to prevent the servants coming in and throwing him out. "You can't conquer the world using snowmen. Snowmen are rubbish in July. You'll have to be better than that. You'll have to evolve!" he concluded just as Simeon's men were trying to get through the doors.

"Sir, it appears to be stuck!" they said behind the wooden doors

"What have you done? Have you locked the doors?" asked Simeon, trying to open them, finally showing some worry as he was losing control over the situation.

"You need to translate yourself into something more, well, human."

"Kick it down!" he ordered to his men.

"To do that you'd need a perfect duplicate of human DNA in ice form and one in a living form to learn how to heal yourself when damaged. Where do you find... that?" he asked slowly, looking around the room. His eyes laid on Simeon's desk and found what he was searching for. He ran to it and took a journal. "Now, let's see. Most opened file, most viewed page." The Doctor tossed the journal filled with handwritten pages, plans, and newspaper articles in the air and hit the page that opened when it landed with his cane. It was an newspaper article talking about the tragedy at Darkover House. "You know, you really should delete your history. Governess frozen in pond. Gotcha!"

"Got the masterkey, sir!" the servant said.

"Take him downstairs!" Simeon ordered as his men burst into his office.

But seeing the confused looked on his servants' face, he turned around to see there was nobody left in the office. The Doctor had escaped, leaving one of the windows opened, the curtain floating in the winter breeze.

* * *

"Body frozen in a pond. The snow gets a good long look at a human being, like a… full body scan. Almost everything they need to evolve." the Doctor said, walking around the frozen pond at the Darkover House. "Pond… Good point Clara…" A soft smile came across his lips before noticing someone came behind him. Turning around, he comes face to face with Strax. "What are you doing here?"

"Madam Vastra wondered if you needed any grenades." said the Sontaran with his strong accent.

"Grenades?"

Realising that maybe he went a bit too far, Strax corrected:

"She might have said help."

"Help for what?"

"Well. Your investigation!"

"Investigation? Who says I'm investigating? Do you think I'm going to start investigating just because some bird smiles at me? Who do you think I am?" the Doctor said, turning around to escape Strax's look, knowing fully that it was absolutely not convincing, even for that potato.

"Sherlock Holmes."

Dammit.

That was clever. He struggled to find something clever to answer to that.

"Don't be clever Strax, it doesn't suit you."

"Sorry sir."

"I'm the clever one, you're the potato one." the Doctor said, tapping the Sontaran's forehead.

"Yes sir."

"Now go away."

"Yes… Mister Holmes." Strax said, walking away laughing as the Doctor, tried to defend himself, sounding more like a child in a playground than an age old Time Lord:

"Oi! Shut up! You're not clever or funny and you've got tiny little legs!"

As he was looking at the pond again, soft rays of light fell on the pond and him. Looking up, he saw the curtains of a window were opened and that a feminine figure was standing there, looking down.

Narrowing his eyes a little, he recognized Clara in her governess dress, waving shyly at him, a small smile on her delicate face.

Suddenly feeling nervous, he waved back to her, uneasy.

As she waved him to come up, he turned around, more nervous, talking to himself.

"Okay, just tell her you're leaving, you're not going up. You're leaving, you're not going up."

Facing the house again, he told her using his hands he will be up in five minutes. As soon as she drew the curtains back, he facepalmed himself, looking angrily at his hand, even biting his thumb.

"Five minutes! Where did that come from? You…"

* * *

"Am I going to have the nightmares tonight?" asked Francesca in her bed as Clara was putting her brother, Digby, in his own bed, next to Francesca's. Clara sat on the edge of the girl's bed, stroking her cheek.

"Definitely not."

"How do you know?"

"Because someone's coming to help."

"Who?"

The governess smiled and patted her hand on the bed next to her to gesture Digby to sit here.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." she said.

"Is it one of your stories?" asked Francesca. "The definitely true ones."

"Ah!" she exclaimed, faking being offended. "All my stories are true."

"Like how you were born behind the clock face of Big Ben?" asked Digby.

"Accounting for my acute sense of time."

"And you invented fish?" asked the girl.

"Because I dislike swimming alone."

"So what's this one?" asked the boy, curious.

Clara smiled and started to tell her story:

"There is a man called the Doctor. He lives on a cloud in the sky, and all he does, all day, everyday, is to stop all the children in the world ever having bad dreams."

"I've been having bad dreams." stated Francesca.

"He has been on holiday." retorted Clara. "But I'm confident he has now returned to work, and as a matter of fact, he's right here." she said, seeing the candle light flicker as the door is slowly opened. "Aren't you Doctor?"

But instead of the tall figure wearing a top hat, a woman made of ice appeared, her pointy and icy teeth terrifying as she said:

"The children have been very naughty!"

Clara, Digby and Francesca screamed in terror, the young woman exclaiming with her real accent:

"Bloomin' hell!" as she placed the children behind her, protecting them. "Get back!"

"You're doing your other voice!" said Digby.

"Yes love, did you notice?" she answered sarcastically. "Run!"

As the children managed to get out of the room, the ice lady gripped on Clara's arm and dragged her away from the door, towards the window. Clara tried to fight, to picture her melted, to hit her, but there was nothing that could be done: the ice was unbreakable and she was far too strong for her.

"Miss Montagu!" the children called her, coming back for her.

"Get out!"

The ice lady broke the window with her icy fist and, holding Clara very tight, she then transformed Clara and herself into a swarm of snowflakes, flying away in the winter night.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think and don't hesitate to share your theories with me! :)**


	34. Chapter 34

**Helloooo everyone! I am SO SORRY for not updating this week, so so so sorry. I had a bit of a struggle with this chapter. The Snowmen is (in my opinion) one of the most perfect episodes (hence it's one of my faves) making it a hell to rewrite and find a new plot. I really hope you'll like what I've made here because I really tried to make it good.**

 **Thank you for the views and the new faves and follows I got, and of course the reviews, keep the stats going up! It's really encouraging.**

 **Turtle, you are always over the top ;) And all your theories make sense.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 34_

Footsteps were heard, climbing up the stairs. The door of the children's bedroom pushed open as a man's voice called:

"Clara?"

A tall man with a top hat and quite chinny appeared in the door frame. As he looked around the room, his eyes stopped on the shape of two children crying and holding each other tight in one corner. A girl and a boy, her younger brother.

The Doctor quickly walked up to them and knelt in front of them.

"Hey, hello, I'm the Doctor, I'm here to help, er…" he started, seeing the afraid look on their faces being replaced by hope. "Where's Clara? Your er… Governess - she's your governess, isn't she? What's your name?"

"I'm Francesca and this is Digby. You're the Doctor, you really are! Miss Montagu told us about you!"

"Miss Montagu… Yes, okay, where is she?"

"She took her away, she transformed into snow and flew away with her!" said Digby.

"What?"

"Our former governess, the one that died in the pond." explained the girl. "She came back, she was made of ice and took Miss Montagu with her!"

"Clara…" whispered the Doctor as he got up and walked out of the room, the children following him.

"You have to find her, Doctor! The ice lady will kill her!" pleaded Digby.

Alerted by the hullabaloo made by the three of them, Captain Latimer came out of his office, cross.

"Children, what is the meaning of this?" he started and as he looked up, his eyes meeting the Doctor, he exclaimed: "Who the devil are you? What are you doing in my house?"

"Ah! Er…" started the Doctor, nervous and trying to think of something to say. "It's alright I am your governess's gentleman friend and we were upstairs… er…. Kissing!" he said, his hands flapping nervously around.

"Where is she?" asked the father.

As Alice, the maid, had walked by to answer the door, they heard a loud scream of terror when she saw Vastra and Jenny on the door step. She ran back to Captain Latimer but Strax walked in just across her way, making her scream even more until she fainted, too scared.

Checking on her, the Doctor leant in and once he made sure she was okay, he straightened up and smiled.

"Any questions?"

"Where's Miss Montagu?" asked the father.

"Ah... Yes. Well, it appears that your former governess came back as an ice beast and kidnapped your actual governess. Which really starts to worry me as doubt very much they'll keep her alive very long…" he said, his voice fading, for an instant pain flowing back into his eyes, his hearts wrenching, almost cutting his breath.

"Doctor?"

Vastra's voice snapped him back to reality and he blinked a few times before smiling briefly and putting on his strategist look.

"Right. Whatever this is, it's all linked to the Intelligence, so to the Institute." he started. "The Intelligence wanted the ice lady to translate itself into something more human and more invincible than just smithereens. Now it has the ice lady _and_ Clara as a living life form… A living body mutated as a powerful entity. Ice, that would never melt. Ice that would never break. Invincible…"

"What do we do?" asked Vastra, completely ignoring Captain Latimer that looked completely lost.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and flicked it opened.

"We get ourselves invited."

* * *

In the cold night of Christmas Eve, a swarm of snowflakes twirled in the air over Victorian London. It crossed the Thames and flew past an old building which walls were decorated with two statues of angels covering their eyes with their hands as if they were weeping.

It flew until entering by an opened window into Doctor Simeon's office.

Reforming itself, it took back the form of the ice governess still holding Clara tight. Though now, Clara was not fighting anymore: her body was lifeless, unconscious. A doll in the puppeteer's arms.

"Everything is going according to the plan. Tonight shall be the last night of humankind!" exclaimed the Intelligence.

Simeon walked up to the ice lady and took Clara to lay her down on a table, attaching her to it.

"I serve you in this, as in everything else." said Simeon. He turned towards the ice governess and held out a hand. The ice beast grew a long and extremely pointy bit of ice before giving it to Simeon.

As though this was some sort of sacrifice, he held up the ice spike with both of his hands, over Clara's body.

Suddenly, a whirring sound echoed, the papers on his desk started to fly around the room as they were lifted by a warm breeze. The sound becoming louder, Clara slowly moved her head before opening her eyes, blinking to try and clear her vision. Soon the tall and blue frame of the Tardis appeared behind Simeon's desk, the Doctor, Madam Vastra, Jenny and Strax stepping out of the box.

"Step away from that young boy, human scum! This office is now the property of the Sontaran Empire!" exclaimed Strax, aiming a massive Sontaran blaster at Doctor Simeon.

Simeon's lips curled with an atrocious smile and snowmen appeared, out of nowhere between him and the Doctor's gang.

"There's nothing you can do to stop it! Winter is coming!" he shouted as, once again, he rose the ice spike over a dizzy Clara.

A second later, he struck her.

Right in the middle of her chest. Right into her heart.

Her whole body arched under the pain, her eyes suddenly opening wide, and a silent scream escaping her lips.

If hers was silent, the Doctor's was not and it was as if a roar echoed against the wooden walls of the office. Or the thunder.

Clara turned her head towards him, her eyes meeting the Doctor's and suddenly all the snowmen in the room melted.

It was happening again, it was happening all over again. Why? _Why_?!

As Strax shot the ice lady, reducing her to broken bits of ice and Vastra and Jenny neutralized Simeon with their katanas, the Doctor rushed to Clara's side.

She was still alive, still breathing, but how long did she have?

"Hey…" he said, taking one of her hands in his, the other stroking her forehead. "Hey, it's alright, it's ok, you'll make it don't worry."

"Please… Save the world, Doctor…" she said, struggling to breath, her voice cracked with pain.

"If I do…" he started, fighting the tears coming up to his eyes. Not again. He had only just met her, but he could not bear it. "Will you come away with me?"

In answer, Clara slightly smiled and nodded, before closing her eyes, resting.

Straightening up, the Doctor untied her and took her in his arms, carrying her inside the Tardis. He then fetched all the ice bits on the ground and ordered Vastra, Jenny and Strax to come back inside the time machine before taking off, leaving Simeon with no more ice governess, no more living body and just his failed plan to think of.

Cursing out of rage, Simeon stormed out of his office.

This was not the end.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think :)**


	35. Chapter 35

**Hello everyone! Here comes a new chapter. I hope you will like it! I recommend you to read it while listening to "A Good Man?" (aka Twelve's theme) as I wrote this while listening to it. Shall give more power to the Doctor's reactions.**

 **Thank you for the review, thank you Turtle for your support :) And thenk you to Freya Astrid Nova for your support too :)**

 **Well, enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 35_

The Tardis materialized in Captain Latimer's office, making the little family run into the room to see what the noise was.

When they faced the big blue box, they all looked at each other, confused on how this blue box entered the house.

Vastra, Jenny and Strax stepped out.

"Remain calm!" exclaimed Strax. "This dwelling will certainly be under attack soon."

Vastra stepped forward and held out her hand to the Captain.

"Captain Latimer, I am Madam Vastra, this is my wife, Jenny and our friend, Strax. Sorry for not presenting ourselves earlier. You have nothing to fear from us, we are here to help and protect you, your children and the rest of the world."

The father, quite stunned by everything going on, weird-looking people and a magic blue box, shook the Silurian's hand slowly.

At this moment, the Doctor came out of the Tardis, carrying Clara. After Jenny removed everything from Latimer's desk, he laid her on it, carefully avoiding to touch the ice spike still piercing her heart.

"Clara…" softly called the Doctor, trying to wake her up, but she seemed to have fallen unconsciousness to avoid the pain.

"Clara? Who's Clara?" asked Captain Latimer. "What happened to her? Can someone explain what the hell is going on?!"

"Your governess, who is actually also a barmaid." said the Doctor. "She has been kidnapped by your former governess in ice form and Doctor Simeon struck her with this ice spike to try to make the ultimate fusion of snow and humanity."

"Dear Lord…" he said, his children not being able to take their eyes off the spike piercing the heart of their beloved governess.

"Sir, this office has one defendable entrance and one point of observation on the garden." said Strax as he came back from searching the safest place to be in the house.

"Good job Strax, still got it buddy!" he said, not leaving his eyes from Clara though. "Jenny, Vastra, take Alice on that chair, she should wake up soon."

"Doctor they're coming." informed Vastra.

They all looked outside by the window at the machine throwing snow in the Darkover garden, an army of snowmen growing from the ground, gnashing their icy and pointy teeth.

"Right. Snowmen aren't that scary, they're foot soldiers, we can melt them quite easily. Though… considering the amount of snow, they'd be reforming quickly." he thought aloud. Rubbing his eyes, he then said: "Nevermind the snowmen, the priority is Clara. She has an ice spike in her heart, trying to convert her into a terrible weapon." he said. He stroked her forehead as he did previously. "She's cold, it has begun."

"Then take the ice spike out of her!" suggested Vastra.

"Can't. If I do, it will create an hemorrhage. But if I don't she will be transformed."

"Then what do we do?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and turned his face away from the lifeless body of Clara, his jaw clenching.

"Doctor?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" he yelled, the thunder in his voice, the storm raging in his eyes as he was stuck. Stuck between two choices: leave the ice spike in her body and take the risk that she gets transformed before he can do anything to prevent it, with no way back and be forced to kill her. Or take out the ice spike, making her bleed out which would kill her in few minutes.

"I have to leave the spike. It'll give us more time… I suppose." he said, calming down. Or at least containing his feeling of guilt. He leant in, and kissed her forehead.

Suddenly she opened her eyes.

They met eyes, the Doctor's.

Green to green, two emerald gazes looking at the soul of the other.

She suddenly rose her hands, put them on each side of his face, and kissed him, making him open his eyes wide in surprise and flap his hands around in his usual awkwardness.

What the…

She fell back on the desk, unconscious again.

He blinked a few times. Those eyes…

Straightening his bow tie to try and regain some cool attitude, he turned around, rubbing his hands.

"Strax, use your equipment to try to stabilize her as much as you can."

"Sir."

"Right! Stay here." he said, taking a biscuit tin box with the map of the London underground printed on it, which seemed to contain the broken ice bits from the ice lady.

He walked out of the office as Alice was slowly waking up, followed by Vastra.

"Oi! I told you to stay in there!"

"Doctor, this equipment will not be able to resist the mutation very long."

"She has to survive. It was my fault, I am responsible for this. She was in _my_ care." the Doctor said, pain making his voice tremble.

"What's the point in blaming yourself?" asked Vastra.

"None." he said. "Because she's going to live." He walked up to the front door and opened it, facing Doctor Simeon and his snowmen. "I have in my hand a piece of the ice lady. Everything you need to know about how to make ice people, without Clara of course, hope you won't mind if I keep her and let yourself search for someone else to do your little experiments! Is that what you want?"

Simeon stepped forward, holding out his hand.

"See you at the office!" the Doctor exclaimed before going back inside and slamming the door behind him.

He rushed to the Tardis, typing the coordinates for Simeon's office.

"So then, Doctor, saving the world again?" said Vastra, following him. Might I ask why? Are you making a bargain with the universe? You'll save the world to let her live?"

"Yes." he answered. "And don't you think, after all this time and everything I've ever done, that I am owed this one?"

"I don't think the universe makes bargains."

"It was my fault."

"Well then. Better save the universe." said Vastra, smiling.

He grabbed the handbrake lever and pushed it, looking at the rotor going round above his head as the time machine was taking off and landing to her destination. He then pulled it to put back on the brakes and stormed out of his box, sat at Simeon's desk, putting his feet on it with absolutely no respect for the evil old men.

They waited.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think :)**


	36. Chapter 36

**Hello! I hope you all are okay! I want to apologize for my absence that lasted a week, it was the last week of work and I was doing 10h a day, sometimes more, and have been doing this for 7 weeks. I was too shattered to write.**

 **Thank you all for the faves and follows, for the reviews and the views of course.**

 **As always, thank you Myrtle Turtle 1 for your support, I'm really enjoying talking to you by PM, you are such a nice and funny person! A big thank you to Freya Astrid Nova for her proof reading and her support, you girl are brilliant!**

 **So here comes chapter 36, the last about the Snowmen episode (I hope I didn't butcher one of the greatest episodes - in my opinion).**

 **I do recomend you to read the part where they come back at the Darkover house while listening to Missy's theme (Doctor Who - "Missy's Theme"/"Heaven" - Extended Mix on Youtube.) as I wrote it while listening to it (hit replay if need be, didn't find a better mix than this one yet)**

 **Enjoy and don't forget to leave your impressions :)**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 36_

Doctor Simeon stormed in his office to face a lizard woman standing next to the Doctor who was sitting at his desk, casually resting his feet on the exotic and expansive wood.

"You promised us something. Have you brought it?" he asked.

"Big fella here has been very quiet while you've been out." the man in a bow tie answered. "Which is only to be expected, considering who he really is. Do you know what this is, big fella?" he asked to the entity occupying the glass globe, getting up and holding up the box with the London Underground printed on it.

"I do not understand these markings."

"A map of the London Underground, 1967." he said. "Key strategic weakness in metropolitan living, if you ask me. But then I have never liked a tunnel."

"Enough of this." the Intelligence cut in. "We are powerful, but on this planet we are limited. We need to learn to take human form."

The Doctor put the tin box on the desk and took out his sonic screwdriver. Hiding it behind his back he changed the pitch of the Intelligence's voice.

"The Governess is our most perfect replication of humanity and we can integrate it into a living body, making it invincible." the Intelligence said, its voice becoming one of a child.

"What's happening to its voice?" asked Vastra.

"Just stripping away the disguise." said the Doctor.

"No, stop! Stop that. Cease, I command you!"

"It sounds like a child..."

"Of course it sounds like a child." said the Time Lord. "It is a child. Simeon as a child. The snow has no voice without him."

"Don't listen to him, he's ruining everything!" the childish voice exclaimed.

"How long has the Intelligence been talking to you?" he asked to Simeon who was now looking like a very afraid old child, stuck between his desk and the Doctor dominating him with his height.

"I was a little boy. He was my snowman. He spoke to me." he answered with a little trembling voice.

"But the snow doesn't talk, does it?" said the Doctor. His eyes were reflecting some sort of shadow, darkening the green of his gaze. He loved humans but sometimes he could not accept their darkest side. "It's just a mirror. It just reflects back everything we think and feel and fear. You poured your darkest dreams into a snowman and look, look what it became!"

"I don't understand." said Vastra.

"It's a parasite feeding on the loneliness of a child and the sickness of an old man!" he summed up. "Carnivorous snow meets Victorian values... and something terrible is born."

"We can go on and do everything we planned." the Intelligence said.

"Oh yes, and what a plan." the Doctor said sarcastically, turning around to face the globe. "A world full of living ice people. Oh dear me, how very... Victorian of you..."

Suddenly turning back into Doctor Simeon and leaving the scared child on the side, the old man defiantly said:

"What's wrong with Victorian values?" as he grabbed the tin box, opening it.

"Ah-ah-ah." the Doctor stopped him. "Are you sure?"

"I have always been sure." he said, not taking his eyes off the Doctor as he grabbed what was inside. Suddenly, what he was holding emitted a little noise and as he looked down, the memory worm bit his hand.

His breath cut, and he fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Good. I'm glad you think so, since your entire adult life is about to be erased." said the Doctor, that shadow not leaving his eyes. "No parasite without a host. Without you, it will have no voice. Without the governess, it will have no form. Without Clara, it will have no body."

"What- what-... What's happening? What's happening? What did you do?" the Intelligence asked, the voice glitching.

"You've got nothing left to mirror any more. Goodbye."

But suddenly, as the Doctor thought he was winning seeing the snow fall down inside the globe, it started to swirl again, as if a strong wind was blowing inside.

"Did you really think it would be so easy?" the Intelligence said, its voice deep again.

"That's not possible. How is that possible?" he whispered, not understanding.

"But you were just Doctor Simeon." said the Time Lord. "You're not real. He... _dreamed_ you. How can you still exist?"

"Now the dream outlives the dreamer and can never die. Once I was the puppet…"

And as Simeon was getting up behind the Doctor, his body cold and covered in ice, he shouted looking almost like a zombie:

"Now I pull the strings! I tried so long to take on human form. By erasing Simeon, you made space for me. I fill him now!"

As Simeon approached the Doctor, Vastra took out her katana ready to attack. But in one strong movement, he gave her a whack that sent her to the ground, unconscious.

"More than snow, more than Simeon. Even this old body is strong in my control!" he exclaimed, knocking the Doctor down, putting his icy hand on his face.

"Do you feel it? Winter is coming!"

The Doctor screamed as ice was starting to cover his own skin, trying to turn him into an ice form. He tried to fight, but Simeon was too heavy, too strong.

"Winter is coming!"

But suddenly, as the Doctor's body was getting dangerously cold, the thunder cracked the sky with a lightning bolt and the snow swirling inside the globe turned into water. The snow falling outside turned into rain, making a rattling noise against the windows.

Simeon suddenly stopped, as if he was choking and he leaped off the Doctor, falling to the ground. Dead.

Vastra who was waking up, walked to the Doctor and helped him getting up. They both looked at the glass globe and at the windows, not understanding.

"What happened?" she asked.

With a numb voice, the Doctor answered:

"The snow mirrors, that's all it does…It's mirroring something else now." before rushing to the window and opening it. "Something so strong, it's drowning everything else." He held out his hand, collecting some drops in his palm, Vastra imitating him. "There was a critical mass of snow at the house. I-if something happened there…" he said, not daring to think of it.

They both tasted the rain, the most worried look painted on the Doctor's face.

"It's salty. Salt water rain." said Vastra.

"It's not raining." he said weakly. "It's crying... The only force on Earth that could drown the snow: a whole family crying on Christmas Eve…"

* * *

 _At the Darkover House… _

"No, you must fight. Hang on and fight, boy! You can do it." exclaimed Strax to Clara as he was trying to slower the mutation process.

"Captain Latimer." she called in a whisper, too weak. "Your children. They're afraid. Hold them."

"It's not really my... area." he answered, leaning over her, embarrassed and painful at the same time. He fancied her and she was so good with the children. He might have thought a few times of making her his wife instead of his governess.

"It is now…" she said faintly before closing her eyes again.

It was time.

A single tear ran down from Clara's eye.

Outside, thunder overpowered the snowstorm and turned it into rain.

The ice spike in her heart suddenly melted, making her wince a little.

A few seconds later, the whirring noise of the Tardis echoed and she soon materialized in the office, a small and warm breeze accompanying her in her landing.

Without opening her eyes, the slightest smile crossed Clara's lips.

The door of the time machine opened, letting out the Doctor and Vastra, both of them worried.

"The ice spike melted with the rest of the snow. I held back the mutation by keeping her temperature up, but the bleeding is starting as the cold is not narrowing the veins around the wound anymore." said Strax. "She has moments only…"

The little hope that was left on the Doctor's face vanished. He walked up to Clara as the little family was crying in one corner of the room.

Leaning over her, he stroke her forehead while taking her hand in his other hand.

"Hey… Clara…" he started, his voice trembling. "We saved the world you and me. We really, really did…"

"Are you going back to your cloud?" she asked, opening her eyes as the Doctor touched her. Brown eyes with a imperceptible green shimmer, like a veil.

"No, no more clouds…" he whispered to her. His eyes were so full of pain.

"Why?"

And as she closed her eyes, he whispered, a single tear rolling out of his eye:

"It rained…"

He closed his eyes, letting one more tear stream down his face before wiping them and straightening up, looking at her one last time, in her dark green Victorian dress, a large and dark stain on her chest, but her delicate face peaceful.

"Run." she said. It almost seemed she was saying it without even being conscious. Like an afterword. "Run you clever boy…" and suddenly her eyes opened again, looking straight into his. Green and green. "And remember…"

She closed her eyes, for the last time.

And the clock struck twelve, announcing Christmas Day as the whole family was crying, their tears being echoed by the night sky outside.

* * *

It was a sunny day.

The white flowers embellished the grey gravestone by which Captain Latimer and his children were standing, all dressed in black, mourning the loss of their beloved governess.

A few steps away, the Doctor, Madame Vastra and Jenny were observing the scene, waiting for their turn and leaving a bit of intimacy to the family.

"And what about the Intelligence?" asked the Silurian. "Melted with the snow?"

"No, I shouldn't think so…" said the Doctor. "It learned to survive beyond physical form."

"Well, we can't be in much danger from a disembodied Intelligence that thinks it can invade the world with snowmen." scoffed Jenny.

"Or that the London Underground is a key strategic weakness…" added Vastra.

"The Great Intelligence..." he mumbled, looking at Simeon's business card, distracted. "Rings a bell. The Great Intelligence..."

As the family left, the Doctor walked up to the grave and knelt next to it, resting a hand on it. Vastra and Jenny came closer and, seeing the astonished look on the Doctor's face, they called:

"Doctor?"

"I never knew her name. Her full name..." he said with a numb voice.

On the gravestone read:

"Clara Oswin Oswald

Born

November 23 1866

Died

December 24 1892

Remember me for we shall meet again."

Her voice echoed in his head, remembering:

" _Oswin Oswald. Junior Entertainment Manager, Starship Alaska."_

"Soufflé girl... Oswin. It was her..."

" _Run, you clever boy."_

" _Run, you clever boy..."_

He blinked, remembering both the times the same voice said the same words.

" _And remember."_

" _And remember..."_

"It was soufflé girl... _again_!" he exclaimed. "I never saw her face the first time with the Daleks, but her voice! It was the same voice!"

"Doctor?" asked Jenny, frowning and obviously waiting for more explanations.

"The same woman, twice!" he said, getting up, rubbing his hands as he was getting excited. "And she died! Both times! The _same_ woman!"

"Doctor, please, what are you talking about?" tried Vastra.

"Something's going on. Something impossible, something… ah!" he said, excited like a child in front of a suitcase full of sweets. "Right, you two stay here. Stay right here! Don't move an inch!" he said, running off.

"Are you coming back?"

"Shouldn't think so!" he said over his shoulder.

"But where are you going?" asked Vastra, shouting as he was getting away.

"To find her!" he exclaimed, turning around. "To find Clara!"

"But Clara's dead." said Jenny to Madam Vastra. "What's he talking about, finding her?"

"I don't know, but perhaps the universe makes bargains after all..."

* * *

The door of the Tardis burst open to let the Doctor in. He ran around the console, pulling a lever.

"Clara!"

He pulled the red lever.

"Oswin!"

He pulled the other red lever.

"Oswald!"

He stopped in front of one of the screens showing a picture of Victorian Clara.

"Watch me run."

And he pulled the handbrake and the time rotor throttle, taking off.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed it, let me know :)**


	37. Chapter 37

**Hello everyone!**

 **Thank you for the new follows and the wonderful reviews!**

 **So here comes chapter 37, starting rewriting The Bells of Saint John. This is basically rewriting, setting up the new plot I found for this episode. Won't be much of an entertainment but it is necessary, so I still hope you will like it!**

 **Turtle, you are amazing!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 37_

 _Cumbria, 1207:_

In a misty morning, overlooking the sea and shores of Cumbria, sitting up on the soft curve of a green hill was a monastery.

The muffled silence provided by the dense water floating in the atmosphere suddenly broke by loud thuds given on the huge wooden door by a young monk in his brown robe.

As no one was answering, he removed his hood and hammered on the heavy door once again.

Finally, the hatch opened and he said:

"Wake the Abbott! The Bells of Saint John are ringing!"

The monk on the other side of the door closed the hatch and made the young monk wait in the courtyard.

A few moments later, an old man came to him, a lesser old man at his side.

"We must go to him." said the elder one.

They took the direction of the cave, lighting their way with torches.

"They call him the Mad Monk, don't they?" asked the young monk.

"They shouldn't." the Abbott said. "He's definitely not a monk."

After walking a bit further, they entered a cave, lit with torches, candles and furnished with painting furniture, a chair, a bed, and shelves filled with books and scrolls.

Clearing his throat, the Abbott said:

"I'm sorry to intrude, but the Bells of Saint John are ringing."

The hooded figure, cloaked in a monk robe sat on a chair got up and walked up to the Abbott. Removing the hood from his face, the figure appearing to be the Doctor said:

"I'm going to need a horse."

And going to the end of the room, he walked past an oil painting he had made, representing a portrait of Clara in her governess style with her words.

The young monk looked at it closer.

"Is that her?" he asked to the Abbott.

"The woman twice dead." he answered, nodding. "And her final message. He has withdrawn to this place of peace and solitude that he might divine her meaning. If he truly is mad… Then this is his madness."

They both looked at the painting, reading Clara's last words:

 _Run you clever boy, and remember._

* * *

The Doctor, the young monk and the Abbott's second in command stopped their horses in the middle of a forest, the mist of Cumbria still hovering over the dead leaves on the ground in a ghostly veil.

The high-pitched ringing of an old, but still too recent for the time, fashioned phone was echoing against the trunks of the trees surrounding them. It was coming from the entry of a cave.

Looking briefly around to make sure no one followed them, the Doctor followed the young monk who was lighting their way inside.

A few steps below the ground level, they faced a big blue police box which phone unit was still ringing.

The Doctor looked at it, surprised.

"That is not supposed to happen!" he exclaimed, pointing the Tardis before walking up to it and opening the phone compartment. He awkwardly and excitingly smiled at the young monk behind him while pointing the phone before daring to lay a hand on it. He hesitated a few seconds but finally took the call, taking the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

* * *

"Oh! Hello!" exclaimed a girl, lifting her head up as she seemed to have been waiting for hours at her desk for someone to pick up the phone. "I can't find the Internet!"

" _Sorry?"_

"It's gone, the Internet." she said. "I can't find it anywhere, where is it?"

" _The Internet?"_ asked the voice at the end of the line.

God that man seemed to be slow.

"Yes the Internet." she said with a sigh. She had been patient for hours to actually talk to someone from the helpline, this guy could at least show some seriousness in his work. "Why don't I have the Internet?"

" _It's 1207!"_

"I've got half past three." she retorted looking at her computer clock. "Am I phoning a different time zone?"

" _Yeah, you really sort of are…"_

"Will it show on the bill?"

" _Oh I dread to think."_ the man mumbled. " _Listen, where did you get this number?"_

"The woman in the shop wrote it down, it's a helpline, isn't it? She said it's the best helpline out there." answered the young woman. "In the universe she said."

" _What woman? Who was she?"_

"I don't know, the woman in the shop." she shrugged. "So, why isn't there Internet? Shouldn't it sort of… be there?"

" _Look, I'm not actually… It isn't…"_ the man stammered. He stopped and then suddenly asked: " _You have clicked on the WiFi button haven't you?"_

"Hang on, hum…" she said, searching on her computer screen for that WiFi button. "WiFi…"

" _Click on the Wifi, you'll see a list of names. You see one you recognize."_ he said in an annoyed sigh.

She clicked on the Maitland family's WiFi.

"It's asking me for a password…"

As she said that, footsteps were heard climbing up the stairs:

"Is it okay if I go and see Nina? You can call her mum." asked a young black girl with curly hair.

"Sure!" she answered. "Hum, what's the password for the Internet?"

"RYCBAR123" the girl said before going.

"Hey! How am I supposed to remember that? Angie?" she asked, but it was too late, Angie was already off to see her friend. She came back to her desk and to the phone: "Hang on, just a mo… So. Run... You... Clever... Boy… And… Remember… 1… 2…" she said as she was typing the password.

" _WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"_ shouted the voice at the other end of the line, making her jump in surprise and type the number four instead of the three.

"Don't shout!" she scolded him by looking at the phone. "Now you've made me type it wrong, it has thrown me out again. What do I do? How I get back in?" she asked as she clicked again on the WiFi button. A new name appeared with unknown symbols that did not seemed to require a password. She clicked on it. "It's just er a thing to remember the password: "run you clever boy and remember. Hang on." she added as someone had started knocking on the door downstairs and ringing the bell at the same time without interruption.

 _That person must be exceedingly happy to come here_ , thought the young woman, _but it was probably the children._

"Hello? Yes, I hear you!" she said, climbing down the stairs, her dark red dress floating over her thick black pantyhose. "Yep! Hello?" she said opening the door to a young man in a monk's robe, with messy hair and looking as if he was a child opening his Christmas presents.

"Clara… Clara Oswald." he said, panting.

"Hello." she said, looking at that weirdo.

"Clara Oswin Oswald!"

"Just Clara Oswald - what was the middle one?"

"Do you remember me?" he asked, more and more excited.

"No." Clara answered after looking at him. "Should I? Who are you?"

"The Doctor!" he said, stepping forward. He wanted to hug her as he was so happy to have found Clara again. "No? The Doctor?" he asked, looking at his reflection in the mirror on the wall next to the door, making sure he had not changed in a way she could not recognize him.

"Doctor who?"

"No, just the Doctor." he said, before looking at himself again, thinking he was still handsome, even with this outfit. "Actually, sorry, could you start all that again?"

"Could I what?"

"Could you ask me that question again?"

"Doctor who?" she said.

A big smile crossed his face.

"Okay, just once more."

"Doctor who?"

"Oooh, yeah, oooh." he said, enjoying hearing the question again. "Do you know, I never realised how much I enjoy hearing that said out loud. Thank you."

"Okay." and she slammed the door right in his face.

"Clara? No Clara please I need to talk to you! Clara!"

The young woman sat on the stairs facing the door and looked at the shape of the Doctor still visible through the thick glass. A smile came across her lips, making her brown eyes sparkle, a green hint shimmering in the light.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think :)**


	38. Chapter 38

**Hello beautiful people!**

 **So here come a shorty chapter with not much changing but I promise that next chapter will have more changes and it'll be where the action starts! Why didn't I put it in this one? Well that's what's come next...**

 **This morning, I suddenly felt inspired by the music, so I wrote a one shot (well for now it's a one shot). I suggest that all of you go have a look, it's only about 500 words long, no big deal. I hope you will like it :) Just go to my profile, it's called The Shining World Of The Seven Systems** **:) And please do read the author note introducing it ;)**

 **I still hope you'll like this chapter :) Oh and I didn't get to make this one proof read, as it's mostly just rewriting I think there won't be many mistakes but well, as I'm tired I can't say so anyway, I apologize for any typo/mistakes that will be found in this chapter.**

 **Turtle: You are the best ! You girl surely know how to make me giddy with one review!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 38_

"Clara Oswald. We've got a positive lock on her, but I think she's borderline. Very clever but no computer skills."

"Upload her anyway." said the woman in her fifties that seemed to be in charge. "Splice her a computer skills package."

"I'll activate the spoonheads, Miss Kizlet." the asian man working for her following her between the black and shiny desks of his co-workers.

"Alexi, we call them servers, not spoonheads." corrected Miss Kizlet without even looking at him.

"Yes, excuse me." he said before returning to his desk.

Looking around the office where all was in shades of black and grey, Miss Kizlet said to her blonde second in command who was holding the door for her:

"I'm ever so fond of Alexi, but my conscience says we should probably kill him."

"I'll inform HR." he said, following her to her office where a bay window was overlooking the City of London.

"Actually, he's about to go on holiday, kill him when he gets back. Let's not be unreasonable." she said. "Didn't you want to speak to me?"

"We're uploading too many people too quickly, we're going to get noticed."

For a second, she looked at him.

"If your conscience is bothering you, think of it like this: we're preserving living minds in permanent form in the data cloud. It's like immortality. Only fatal." she said, sitting at her desk.

She took a tablet and surfed through the company software listing all the employees. She stopped to his page, displaying four sliders: conscience, paranoia, obedience and IQ. His name was Mahler.

"My conscience is perfectly fine." he said.

"Good." she said as she lowered his conscience, making his paranoia rise. "Because our client has his needs."

He was about to leave when suddenly his face became more suspicious and he asked:

"Did you just hack me?"

"Because you changed your mind?" she asked innocently.

"I hope I did." he said before leaving the office.

Miss Kizlet lowered his paranoia level before bringing it up back to a medium level, a sly smile coming across her lips.

* * *

"Clara pleaaase! I just need to talk to you! Please!"

Clara, still sitting on the stairs, smiled and decided to get up and turn on the intercom.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oi! You phoned me, you were looking for the Internet!" said the Doctor.

"That was you?" she said with a smirk.

"Of course it was me!"

"How did you come here so fast?"

"I just happened to be in the neighbourhood. On my mobile phone!" he answered, waving to the big blue police box behind him.

"That blue box?"

"Yes and it's a surprisingly accurate description!" he exclaimed. He suddenly sounded like a grumpy old man.

"Okay we're finished now!" she said, turning off the intercom. In fact she didn't really want to stop talking to him, she was just teasing him. Plus that monk robe was not looking really nice on him.

"Oi! No!" she heard him mumble before his voice faded, meaning he left. But she was sure he would be back soon.

Suddenly, the noise of a door slamming came from upstairs, making Clara look up.

"Angie?" she called. "Angie are you upstairs? Are you still here?"

Soon, a girl walked down the stairs, dressed in a very vintage look that reminded Clara of someone she had already seen somewhere.

"Hello."

"Hello." answered the little girl.

"Are you a friend of Angie's?" asked Clara.

"I'm a friend of Angie's."

"What were you doing upstairs?"

"I was upstairs." she answered after a few seconds.

"I know you, don't I?"

"You know me, don't you?"

Clara gasped when she realised this girl was looking exactly like that girl on the cover of the book Arty - Angie's brother - was reading earlier in the day. A book she read herself, 'Summer Falls' written by Amelia Williams. A book she knew very well.

Suddenly, the little girl's head started to turn towards the right, but instead of stopping at one point, it kept on turning, revealing the back of her head in the creepiest way possible. There was no back of her head, it was carved like a spoon, code glitching on a holographic screen.

Clara's eyes opened wide, stunned by how weird it looked. She started to slowly walk backwards, towards the door in an attempt to escape, but a blue ray came from the holographic screen and hit her face.

After a few seconds, tired of resisting, she fell to the ground.

Lifeless.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think :)**


	39. Chapter 39

**Hello guys! Here comes chapter 39! Bit more changes in this one. Well not really, but more description that'll change the look on some scenes.**

 **I remind you that I've published a one shot called The Shining World Of The Seven Systems, feel free to go have a look :)**

 **Well, nothing much to add I think except that Turtle you are such an incredible support! And a thank you to Freya Astrid Nova for the proof reading and the wonderful support!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 39_

"Right! Don't be a monk!" exclaimed the Doctor as he pushed open the door of the Tardis. He started to take off the various layers of clothes from his monk robe. "Monks are not cool!"

He walked down the stairs of the console room to go under the floor, at the center where the glass column was. Six compartments were around it, some holding timey wimey mechanics, some just filled with all the bits and pieces, souvenirs he had. And some clothes. It just appeared as if the one containing clothes was a shortcut to the dressing room made by the time machine because he needed them quickly. Good old Sexy.

"Ah!" he exclaimed as he found a fez while he was throwing the irrelevant clothes over his shoulder. He put it on his head acting like a child, before throwing it away with the discarded clothes. He finally found two jackets: the usual brown tweed jacket he had been wearing until now and a purple jacket, longer, but in the same style. He held them, one in each of his hands, looking at them, hesitating. After a few seconds of reflexion, his eyes saddened while looking at the brown one. This one reminded him too much of what he had lost. He blinked a few times, chasing away the tears coming up to his eyes, and let the brown jacket fall to the floor, as he got up smiling at his new purple jacket. He put on a light blue shirt, black trousers, black suspenders, his boots and the jacket. Buttoning up his shirt, he realised something was missing and searched in the compartment for a beautifully engraved wooden box. He opened it and took the bow tie held within it before putting it on.

Searching in the compartment again, he pulled out a human-sized mirror and, putting it on its feet, he looked at his reflection.

He had to have that look now. He met Clara and that was the look he had to have while having her as a companion. Though she was not really his companion yet. He knew it because that day at the Convention, Matt came dressed like this as he was with Jenna who was playing the role of Clara. The day he had met _her_. The day everything had begun. Sometimes he was feeling as though he should have left her in her universe, then nothing would have happened to her. She would have lived her life, happily. But then he was remembering all the good times they had together, all their moments, far from everyone's sight behind the closed door of her room. Her room was still there, untouched. Sometimes he would sit on the ground, against her door, not daring to enter because it would hurt too much. But he missed her, so much.

The console made a noise, as if to snap him back to Earth. He blinked a few times, smiling to his reflection chasing the dark veil shadowing his eyes and the arrows piercing his hearts, before heading towards the door.

In only two steps, he was at the Maitlands' door.

"Clara!" he called, looking at the intercom camera. "Clara?"

"Hello." said Clara's voice through the intercom.

"Ah, see!" he said, spinning around to let her see his new outfit. "De-monked! Sensible clothes! Can I come in now?"

"I don't understand."

"You just open the door."

"I don't know…"

"Of course you can!" he said, tapping on the intercom.

"... Where I am. I don't know where I am." she said, starting to breath heavily, her voice becoming high-pitched under the panic growing in her. "Where am I? Please tell me where I am, I don't know where I am!"

The Doctor's eyes suddenly filled with worry and he quickly pulled out his sonic screwdriver to opened the door. He stepped in, but did not need to go very far as he found Clara's body at his feet, lifeless.

"Clara!" he knelt next to her, scanning her with the sonic and taking her pulse on her neck, holding up her head with his other hand. She was lifeless, but Clara's voice was still calling for help, saying she did not know where she was.

He looked up and his eyes met the little girl with a spoon head, Clara, panicked and crying on the holographic screen.

The Doctor got up and flicked the sonic screwdriver, pointing it on the child and sonicked it, revealing a metal robot, freezing at the same time an upload. He quickly understood that it was Clara's conscience this thing - and whoever was behind it - was uploading.

"Walking base station…" he whispered. "Walking WiFi base station, hoovering up data, hoovering up people!" He deducted climbing up the stairs to go to Clara's room, following his sonic that was scanning for the source, the device used to connect the young girl. He found her laptop, took it and came back to her side. "Oh no you don't!"

He opened up the base code window and started typing codes, trying to counteract the walking base station and the upload. He had little time, soon they will notice and they will try to stop him.

"Oh no no no no no, not this time Clara, I promise!" he said between his teeth, raging against the whole world. Everytime he was speaking to someone, something bad happened to them. Was he so dangerous? He won't lose her, not this time.

He typed over and over, reversing the upload, counteracting every bit of code the ones on the other side of the base station were typing.

He finally entered {TERMINATE} in the code window and closed the laptop. He had stopped the upload, reversed it, but he did not know if it was going to bring her back or not. Because at the moment, she was dead.

He put his fingers on her neck, trying to feel her pulse, but there was nothing. Not a single beat.

Suddenly, the base station started to glitch, and a blue ray came out of the spoon head, hitting Clara's face.

An instant later, the young woman took a deep breath as though she had been underwater for a long time.

"Okay, it's okay you're fine, you're back." the Doctor said, cupping her face. "Yes you are!" he exclaimed, resting his forehead against hers before kissing it.

She was alive, unconscious, but alive.

* * *

Pacing up and down her dark office, the bay window showing the night had fallen over London, Miss Kizlet looked concerned.

As Mahler entered the office, she asked:

"Well?"

"Our hacker sent us a message." he answered, making the aforesaid message appear on the screen hanging on her wall.

 _UNDER_

 _MY_

 _PROTECTION_

 _-The Doctor_

"I assume he's talking about the girl." he added.

"Get out." Kizlet ordered. "I have to speak to the client."

As Mahler left, she walked up to the screen, pressing a button.

"Sir, the one you told me about. He's here." she said, seeming as if she was afraid. "The Doctor is here."

* * *

 **I hope you like it, please let me know what you think :)**


	40. Chapter 40

**Hello people!**

 **I hope everything is alright for all of you, and for those who are getting back to school: brave heart! And I wish you all a year filled with A+!**

 **I'm sorry I haven't been updating for like 10 days, but I was also preparing myself to go back to school, and in my case it means moving out and in. So between two trains and two car trips, I wrote Chapter 40.**

 **Plus, I wanted it to be longer than the previous chapters as I noticed that they were getting shorter and shorter, so I thought I'd try to go back to write longer chapters.**

 **I hope you will like this one, really, I don't know why but I don't feel very confident about the rewriting of the Bells of St John. Maybe because it's necessary to write it but that I don't really feel at ease with it? Anyway, I still love this episode so yeah, I hope you'll like the chapter.**

 **Turtle: Thank you for your support, you never fail at drawing a smile on my face!**

 **Thank you to Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading! :) OH AND BY THE WAY! I think some of you who are following my profile know it already but my friend Freya Astrid Nova is writing a Doctor Who fanfiction and she decided that I'll publish it on my account, so it's called The Starving Ones, you should go and get a look at it guys :) it's her first proper Doctor Who fanfiction, she needs advice :)**

 **I'll let you get on with the chapter :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

 **P.S.: I recommend you to read the first part of the chapter listening to Clara's theme, as in the episode :)**

* * *

 _Chapter 40_

In the soft and warm light of a bed lamp, Clara was laying in her bed, unconscious.

The Doctor waltzed around her room, putting a jug filled with fresh water, and a glass on her bedside table. Wanting to do things right, he added some flowers in a mug and a plate with Jammy Dodgers on it. He could not resist to smell the delicious biscuits and bit in one, appreciating the flavour. Unaware that this was not the kind of things polite people do, he put back the biscuit he had started to eat on the plate and began to look around her room, snooping in her shelves. A tall and thin book called his attention and he took it, looking at the cover.

" _101 Places To See_ "

The book looked old.

He opened it to find a series of numbers written under a child's handwriting saying "Property Of Clara Oswald." The counting was starting at nine and ending at twenty four. He guessed this was the years young Clara counted, waiting to go somewhere and see some wonderful places.

A soft smile lightened his face before becoming intrigued at the sight of a red dried maple leaf on the following page. He carefully took the leaf between his fingers and looked at it closely. He smelled it, and being way too curious, finally licking it, making him pull a face as the taste was not to his liking.

He put it back between the pages where he found it, and left the book on her desk before taking her computer and leaving the room.

A few moments later though, Clara frowned before opening her eyes, their brown and copper sparks laying upon the half eaten biscuit.

Something had happened.

She suddenly sat up on her bed, trying to remember what exactly had occurred, but a slight headache made her wince. She got up and headed towards the little window of her attic room, thinking some fresh air would relieve her. Looking down on the street she saw the big blue box parked just by the Maitlands' house, the Doctor sat on a chair looking at her computer with a weird metal thing next to him.

"Hello?" she called.

"Hello!" answered the Doctor, glad she had awoke, standing up from his chair. He put her laptop on the ground and asked: "Are you alright?"

"I'm in bed."

"Yes."

"Don't remember going…"

"No."

"What did I miss?" she asked.

"Oh… Quite a lot actually." he said, taking a little notepad out of his inside pocket and skimming through the pages. "Angie called, she's going to stay over at Nina's, apparently that's completely fine and you shouldn't worry like you always do, for God sake, get off her back. Er… Also, your dad phoned, mainly about the government, he seems very cross with them, I've got several pages on that, I said I'd look into it. I fixed that rattling noise in the washing machine, indexed the kitchen cupboards, optimized the photosynthesis in the main flower bed and assembled a quadricycle."

"Assemble the what?"

"I found a disassembled quadricycle in the garage."

"I don't think you did." she said.

His eyes suddenly sparkled with the light of a mad scientist whose invention was a success.

"I invented the quadricycle… Ha!" he whispered. Looking satisfied, he looked up at Clara.

"I don't remember what happened to me."

"Don't you remember?" he asked, a hint of worry coming across his face."

"I was scared… Really scared…" Clara said. "Didn't know where I was."

"Do you know now?"

"Yes."

"Well then!" he smiled. "You should go to you're safe now, I promise." He awkwardly crossed his fingers while looking down at his feet before briefly looking back at her. "Goodnight Clara." he said, turning around to go back working on this robot, his head bowed, as though, somehow, he would have prefered to stay there and talk to her.

A little smirk curled Clara's lips before she asked, mischievous:

"Are you guarding me?"

"Well… Yes. Yes, I am." he said, sitting there and looking satisfied with this responsibility, making Clara chuckle, which made him smile.

"Are you seriously going to sit down there all night?"

"Yeah! I promise I won't budge from this spot." he answered, flipping his sonic screwdriver before slipping it inside his pocket and sitting back, arms crossed.

She smiled again. To be honest, why would she trust this guy? After all she called him for help for the Wifi, and the next second he was at her doorstep, dressed like a monk, calling himself the Doctor and carrying a big blue police box. Then she got attacked and he saved her, now wearing an old fashioned but somehow charming outfit, he took care of her, fixed everything in the Maitlands' house, and now he was protecting her. He seemed very attached to her, and although all of this was completely bonkers, she trusted him and felt connected to him.

"Well then, I'll have to come to you." she said, closing the window.

"Eh?"

He got up and awkwardly fixed his bow tie, waiting for her to come outside. He could not help but feel nervous.

* * *

"I take the girl is inside. And alive." said Miss Kizlet. Mahler and her were looking at Alexi's screen over his shoulder, displaying a view from the streets of the Maitlands' home with the blue box parked next to it.

"Yes." simply answered Mahler.

"Alexi." she started with a smirk and taking her tablet. "I need you to do something creative about that." she said, going to Alexi's file and rising his IQ slider, making the boy type faster on his glass keyboard.

* * *

Clara carried a chair and two cups of tea by the blue box.

"I like your house!" said the Doctor, working on the walking base station.

"It's not mine." she said. "I'm a friend of the family."

"But you look after the kids. Oh!" he said, realising and tapping his forehead with the metal key he was using. "Yes, you're a governess aren't you, just like…" he stopped, not wanting to mention the Victorian Clara, tapping again his forehead, telling himself he was stupid.

"Just like?" she said, giving him one of the mugs filled with hot tea.

"Just like, err…" he said, sipping some tea. "I just thought you probably would be."

"Are you going to explain what happened to me?" she asked, looking at him sitting down in front of her.

A little smile briefly lightened his lips. She was as stubborn as the Victorian Clara. And also as much as Melody… His hearts missed a beat as he thought of her, but curiously, the tingling sensation he was feeling on his skin when he was around Clara made the memory come with a soft and endearing feeling, more than a wrenching pain.

"There's something in the WiFi." he started, leaning in. "This whole world is swimming in WiFi, we're living in a WiFi soup. Suppose something got inside. Suppose there was something living in the WiFi, harvesting human minds, extracting them." he said. "Imagine that. Human souls trapped like flies in the world-wide web. Stuck forever, crying out for help."

"Isn't that basically Twitter?" said Clara, sipping into her cup of tea.

The Doctor clicked on the WiFi button of her laptop, all the WiFi names being listed, almost every of them being named with weird symbols. He frowned as his eyes looked up at her.

"What's that face for?" she asked.

"A computer can hack another computer, a living, sentient computer." he thought out loud. "Maybe that could hack people, edit them, rewrite them."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because a few hours ago you knew nothing about the Internet." he said, pointing his fingers at her. "And you just made a joke about… _Twitter_!" he stated, though you could hear in his voice how much he was not keen on the social network.

"Oh… Well…" she said, shrugging. "Doesn't mean I know nothing about social networks, you know."

"Are you sure?" he asked, his forehead drawing sceptical lines on his skin.

"Yeah, I mean… Okay I'm not good with the machine and put the wifi and everything, but once I'm connected I know about social networks and find my way through it."

"Okay." he nodded. "Then I need to find out what they are up to, because once people are downloaded, their body is dead. So why?"

"Maybe they need the bodies." she said, sipping again in her cup of tea.

"Why?"

"I don't know, I'm not the expert, just… suggesting."

He nodded again, thoughtful. He closed her computer and got up, looking around the street lightened up by the street lamps. A few people were not very far away. Maybe two or three. Observing them closely, the Doctor started to feel uneasy seeing they were not moving, just staring at them.

"Clara…"

He stepped back, towards the doors of the blue box as suddenly, the figures on the other side of the road stepped forward. Looking at Clara, she was rubbing her forehead, eyes closed and eyebrows frowned.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit of a headache, nothing more.

"Good! Clara, we need to go. See these people on the other side of the road, they aren't people they are walking base stations just like the one I disassembled, I think they want it back, and by the same occasion harvest our souls."

She looked at him, then at the people dangerously walking up to them.

"You and me, inside that box, now."

"I'm sorry?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Just get inside."

"Both of us?"

"Oh, trust me, you'll understand once we're in there." he said, getting what she understood.

"I bet I will! Is it like a snogging booth?" she asked, teasing him.

"A what?!"

"Is that what you do, bring a booth? There is such a thing as too keen." she kept on teasing him, sipping the rest of her tea.

"Clara…" he said, calling her attention to the people as their heads was turning, revealing a spoon head as their were getting really close. "You, me, box, now!" he said, grabbing her hand and leading her inside the box, where all the lights were going round and the rotor already ready to take off as though she knew they needed to go, and quickly.

"Yes, it's a spaceship, yes, it's bigger on the inside. Now, I don't have time to talk about it!" he said, running to the console and switching buttons on the main panel and on the side panels.

"Where're we going?"

"Shut up, short hops are difficult!" he retorted, pushing the handbrake lever, making the room shake suddenly as the Tardis was taking off. After a few seconds, the machine stabilized and he headed towards the door, passing past Clara who sat in one of the seats. She got up and asked again:

"Where're we going?"

"Breakfast!" he said with a smile, taking her hand in his and leading her out in the morning sunlight, under the applause of people.

"Thank you, thank you! Yes, magic blue box!" he said, pulling a fez out of nowhere, like a magician. "All donations gratefully accepted, roll up, give us your dosh! Pennies, pounds, everything you've got!" he said, giving the fez to Clara while people were dropping some change in it. "Keep collecting, we need enough for breakfast. Just popping back to the garage."

She chuckled thanking the people donating, until she heard a big motorbike exit the blue doors, making the people around applause again.

"Thank you, thank you!" he said, wearing a black round helmet and glasses. "Tomorrow, a camel!" he added, handing a helmet and glasses to Clara, and giving the now empty fez to a kid.

* * *

They were sitting at a coffee table on a terrasse overlooking some streets of the City of London, skyscrapers reaching out to the sky behind them in the blue gray weather.

Clara, sipping some warm tea in her cup was looking at the Doctor, who was using her laptop, trying to track down who was controlling the walking base stations. After a moment, he just leant back and sighed, crossing his arms as he was not getting anywhere.

"You know, they probably are far away if it's working all by WiFi." she said.

"And? You've seen the Tardis, you know I can go anywhere and anywhen in Time and Space!" he said, frowning and looking at her like she was stupid.

"Just letting you know that you'll probably never find them." she shrugged.

"And what do I do? Eh? Let people die because these people are uploading them? You better write down one of the rules of travelling with me: we never give up!"

"Don't give me that look Doctor, you know you're stuck for now, these people are too clever."

"People… These people…" he pondered on her words, not even paying attention to the message she was giving him. A smile came across his face before he said "It's not about the security, it's about the people!" he exclaimed, typing again on her laptop, hacking the lowest level of security to take mugshots of the people working at controlling these base stations. He then used a basic facematch website and had the list of all the people on social networks in less than a minute. Looking up at their profiles, he searched for a common point, and soon found it. Looking up at Clara with a satisfied smile, he said: "Gotcha! The Shard. They all work at the Shard!"

"Oh well you are clever indeed." Clara spoke up.

This was not right.

"I've been warned that you were, but I never expected that you'd be so… astute."

His frown deepened as her voice sounded different. It was still the same voice, but the way she was talking…

"Clara?"

"Miss Oswald is, I fear, rather unable to talk to you and hear you right now."

"What have you done to her?" he asked, his voice suddenly trembling like the growling thunder and his eyes darkening.

"She's rather pretty, isn't she?"

"Leave her."

"Look around, and see how impossible your situation is. Go on, I do love showing off." she said, getting up and walking inside the coffee shop. He followed her as she kept talking. "Just let me show you what control of the wifi can do for you. Stop!" she shouted, opening her arms as to show him.

And all the people present in the coffee shop froze, like statues.

"I saw what you can do last night."

"And clear!" she said, and all the people left the room. "We can hack anyone in the WiFi once they've been exposed long enough."

"So there's one of your walking base stations here, somewhere close." he said, still surrounded with a dark aura, looking around the now deserted room.

"There's always someone close." she said, calling his attention again. "Human minds, preserved beyond their bodies, as my client requires them."

"It's obscene. It's murder." he said, his voice growling.

"It's life! No one loves cattle more than Burger King." she said with a smirk. Suddenly she staggered, holding her head. "Doctor!" she called, looking behind him.

He turned around, taking out his sonic screwdriver, but the walking base station right behind him did not leave him a chance and the blue ray instantly hit his face, trying to upload him.

"No!" Clara shouted, regaining the control of her body. Instinctively, she stretched out a hand in his direction as the protestation escaped her lips. A bright light ray, white and golden, came out of her stretched hand and hit the base station, cancelling the uploading and making the Doctor fall on his knees, panting.

"Doctor…" she faintly said, her lids heavy as her legs could not support her anymore. Everything around her was so… blurry.

She looked at the blurred shape of the Doctor trying to reach her. Everything was looking like on slow motion. It soon darkened and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, tell me what you think :)**


	41. Chapter 41

**Hello everyone!**

 **Here we are again for the last chapter of the Bells of Saint John! Then I might do a "Meanwhile in the Tardis"-like chapter or jump to "Journey to the center of the Tardis" I don't know yet, I'll see if inspiration is coming to place a Meanwhile in the Tardis here, or if it's better to put it later. Anyway you know now that next episode rewriting will be Journey to the center of the Tardis!**

 **Another information: I have now a deadline. I didn't until now, not really worrying about how long it'd take me to finish this one but I have decided this morning that Time and Space will reach it's end before Christmas! To be honest I think it'd have been finished before anyway, but now it's fixed! I think it'll reach 200 pages (I hope more) as it has now reached 153 pages on my document (which is the size of a small book, yay!).  
Plus, as I'll have like three weeks of holiday at Christmas (at least), I think I'll be able to develop the story for The Shining World Of The Seven Systems! :)**

 **As always, Turtle you are such an amazing support! Thank you like a thousand times!**

 **And of course thank you Freya for your proofreading and support! I remind you that I'm publishing for her, her story called "The Starving Ones"**

 **I'll let you get on with the chapter!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 41_

In the streets of London, a big black motorbike was slipping through the traffic, between cars and buses, as fast as its growling engine could. Growling, as an echo to the aura enveloping the man who was driving it. The Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness to the people that were daring to touch at a single strand of hair of his loved ones. He had lost so many people, that counted so much. And he had lost Clara two times already. He will not allow to lose her a third time, nor anyone hurting her.

At the foot of tall building that seemed to be made of glass, under the shadow of the tall statue of an angel covering her eyes on the old building to his right, he stopped and looked up through his motorbike glasses.

The Shard.

Apparently this is where the people controlling the base stations were.

A long-haired and bearded man eating fish and chips suddenly stopped walking and talked to him:

"Really Doctor? A motorbike? Hardly seems like you."

The way he was talking, it was the same Clara had when she was controlled.

"I rode this in the antigrav Olympics, 2074!" the Doctor answered. "I came last…" he admitted.

"This building is in lockdown." Miss Kizlet said through the man. "I'm afraid you're not coming in."

"Did you even hear the word 'antigrav'?"

He smashed a big red button just in front of him on the fuel tank and drove right towards the Shard, making the engine roar.

* * *

"Seriously? He can do that?" asked Alexi, amazed. "He can really, _actually_ do that?"

"Oh… Dear… Lord…" said Kizlet slowly, not believing her own eyes.

On their cameras, they could see the Time Lord climbing up on the side of the glass building, at high speed on his motorbike. He slipped his hand inside his purple coat and took out his sonic screwdriver.

Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking came from another room.

"I think that was your office…" said Mahler.

"Excuse me." said Miss Kizlet with a polite though nervous smile, buttoning her black jacket in an attempt to regain some bossy attitude. "I believe there's someone to see me."

She walked up to her office and pushed open the door, revealing the floor shining with tiny pieces of broken glass, scattered in the room around a big black motorbike laying on its side, a draught coming through the now nonexistent bay window.

Disrespectfully resting his feet on her desk casually sitting in her seat, the Doctor, still wearing his helmet was waiting for her.

"Do come in." she said sarcastically.

"Download her."

"Sorry for the draught." she continued.

"Download her back into her body right now." he threatened her, not moving an inch, his eyes and voice doing all the work.

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

"I can't." Miss Kizlet insisted. "She is not even uploaded. She's still in her own body, we simply used the connection we had with her from her first uploading and the WiFi around her to control her."

"You've hurt her." he said, getting up and slowly walking to her, his voice growling. "She's unconscious because of you."

"No. We didn't. She broke the connection by herself."

A brief hint of incomprehension shimmered in his eyes, imperceptible.

"Then download the entire cloud, everyone you've trapped in there."

"You realise what would happen?" Kizlet calmly asked.

"Yes, those with bodies to go home to would be free."

"A tiny number. Most would simply die."

"They'd be released from a living hell!" he exclaimed. "It's the best you can do for them. Give the order."

"And why would I do that?" she asked raising her eyebrows.

"Because I'm going to _motivate_ you." he said with a smirk, getting closer to her. "Any second now."

"You ridiculous man!" she scoffed. "Why did you even come here? Whatever for?"

"I didn't!" he exclaimed, his smirk growing. "I'm in a safe place. Did you really think I'd leave Clara alone?" And as Miss Kizlet's eyes were widening, he continued: "You hack people, but me? I'm old-fashioned! I hack technology, and here's your motivation…"

He removed his helmet and looked straight in front him, his move suddenly becoming less smooth and more mechanical. His head started to turn to reveal the back of his head, carved.

The disguise started to glitch, his image showing briefly the metal body of the walking base station that tried to upload him at the café.

"No…" mumbled Kizlet, stepping back. "No! Not me! Please!"

But he did not listen, and a ray of light hit her.

As she fell to the ground, the Doctor base station took her tablet on her desk and took the file of her second in command: Mahler. He put his finger on the "Obedience" slider and raised it to the maximum.

It then shut down, the disguise fading to be nothing more than a metal body.

* * *

"Put me back! Put me back! Download me at once! This is an order!" shouted Miss Kizlet inside a small screen, on the wall where all the uploaded minds were displayed.

Alexi and Mahler, anxious were looking at her, wondering what to do.

"But she's fully integrated now, we'll have to download the entire cloud! We can't do that." said Alexi.

Mahler remained silent, watching her boss desperately asking to be free.

"Download me!"

"Do what she says." he finally said after blinking a few times.

Alexi nodded and went back to his desk. He typed some lines of code on his computer and within a few seconds, all the screens turned off one after the other.

Suddenly, the main door bursted open and soldiers dressed in black entered the room, aiming their guns at all the staff.

Mahler walked up to them, in his role of second in command.

"You have no right to be in this office! And I am demanding that you leave at once!"

"This building is under UNIT control." simply said the officer.

"What is UNIT?" scoffed Mahler. "Never heard of you."

"Just you calm down sir."

* * *

Back into her body, Miss Kizlet quickly turned on her screen, speaking to her client. On the white screen, the hollow face of Doctor Simeon, the face of the Great Intelligence appeared.

"UNIT are here." said Kizlet, her voice trembling. "Friends of the Doctor, I presume."

"Oh old friends, very old friends."

"Then I appear to have failed you, Great Intelligence."

"I have feasted on many minds, I have grown." he said. "But now it is time for you to reduce."

"You've been whispering in my ear so long." said Kizlet, apprehending what was coming next. "I'm not sure I remember what I was before."

"Goodbye, Miss Kizlet."

The woman backed away, taking her tablet. Going into the settings of the software she clicked, her hand trembling, on the "Restore Factory Settings" button. As she did so, a noise screeched inside the whole building, making everyone holding their head with their hands in pain.

"Stay where you are Ma'am!" ordered a soldier entering her office followed by his team. "Identify yourself!"

Kizlet now sitting on the floor, looked at them, afraid.

"Where are my mummy and daddy? They said they wouldn't be long. Are they coming back?" she said, her voice one of a little girl.

She had been reset. Like all of her team.

* * *

The Doctor closed Clara's laptop on the floor of the console room. Sitting on the stairs leading the console unit to the door, he had put Clara's head on his lap, trying to make her position comfortable though the rest of her body was laying on the metal floor.

He had to stop Kizlet and her team before they cause more damage, so he did not take the young woman into a room to put her in bed, in a more comfortable situation.

Stroking her hair with a gentle look on his face, he then got up and carried her into one of the rooms the Tardis had to let her rest. He sat on a chair next to the bed and looked at her.

He had seen what she had done at the coffee shop. He had seen her eyes.

Rubbing his own eyes and frowning he sighed.

He could not help it. He could not help it but see hints of Melody, his Melody in her, his brain certainly playing tricks on him to soothe the pain her loss created. And in fairness it was effective: being around Clara made her memory endearing and not as painful as it used to be anymore.

Maybe she was just what he needed. Maybe that was why the universe kept making him bump into her. But then again, how was that possible?

"Who are you?" he whispered. "Everytime I'm looking at you and I don't understand who you are nor what you are… Who are you..."

* * *

 **I do hope you liked it! Let me know what you think! :)**


	42. Chapter 42

**Hello dear readers! Here comes a new chapter!**

 **I'm nearly at 100 reviews and I'm now over 10,000 views on Time and Space, so thank you all for your support! Keep them coming, it really pushes me to do more :)**

 **So Bells of Saint John is over, as you figured it out, and before starting a new episode, I thought a Meanwhile in the Tardis chapter would be nice. Kind of provides a "pause" between two episodes to give you time to breath. :) Also giving _me_ time to breath and let my mind wander in the misty paths of writing.**

 **It's a shorty chappie, sorry about that, but not really sorry as it's often the case with Meanwhile in the Tardis chapters because they're like minisodes/prequels designed to entertain, tease, and also drop hints.**

 **Turtle: I'm so glad you're back! I was very worried :) But see I've kind of waited on you before updating chapters :p**

 **So I'll let you get on with the chapter, I hope you will like it, it's a very immersive chapter so...**

 **I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU TO LISTEN TO THIS WHILE READING:**

 **Doctor Who: Unreleased music - Timelord Victorious by MorbiusProductions on Youtube**

 **Enjoy :)**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 42_

Opening her eyelids slowly, Clara left the comfortable warmth of unconsciousness to drift back into reality.

The blur clouding her sight slowly faded to let her see Tardis blue walls with a wooden door facing the bed she was laying in. Looking around, she saw some pieces of furniture such as a chair, a cupboard and a mirror, all made of beautiful red wood with some golden details, echoing the wooden floor.

But soon, very soon, her eyes were caught by the ceiling. Was it a window? A projection? A projection of what was outside? She went for the projection.

A projection of space, in its most beautiful aspect: far away galaxies, constellations, stars and radio remnants of supernovas. All these, slowly, imperceptibly swirling above her in a mesmerizing movement. And the darkness, the dark matter, deep black complementing the bright, blinding light of the stars. Glow and shadow, shining and absorbing, light and darkness, never entering in conflict, never merging together but always collaborating, always dancing together like… Like the forces of Life themselves.

The Universe, the whole of Time and Space.

Above her.

She rose her hand towards the ceiling, towards the Universe, willing to, somehow, take part of the dance, feel those forces from up close.

She was already feeling them deep inside, in each of her cells, but was craving to join them, their shimmer reflecting into her eyes making them, for an instant, look as though they contained the Universe itself.

A slight smile lightened up her delicate features and her hand calmly fell back on the bed.

It felt as though she was floating, in a weightlessness state.

Peaceful.

Not wanting to leave the bubble created by the room, she took her time to roll on her side and slip out of the bed, and, barefeet, she walked out of the room, not without leaving a loving look at the ceiling behind her.

Letting her hands run on the walls of the time machine, she let her feet and her inner voice lead her through the corridors.

After passing in front of the library with a smile she turned into a new corridor and another one before finding a wooden door.

Holding out her hand in front of her, she lightly touched the panel with her fingertips, almost like a stroke, causing golden shimmers to run on it, as if it was shivering. Intricate circles briefly appeared before fading, making the girl smile.

A thin ray of light came from the door as it was opening, slightly, just ajar, just enough for an eye to see.

Tilting her head she could see what was inside: a round room, huge, with great golden circles on the dark red walls, shining as they were bathed in the surprisingly soft light of a burning star coming through a bay window… or was it a projection again? Once more, she went for projection.

A desk made of wood was facing it while on the other end, a tall shelf was storing hundreds of old books. On a pedestal, sitting in the middle of the room, in the center of a circle drawn on the floor, was a very realistic hologram. The hologram of a planet. A big and red planet with some areas shining under the light of two stars, surrounded by two moons and five other systems.

The Shining World Of The Seven Systems.

Facing the projection, a tall figure was standing there.

She tilted her head on the other side and smiled.

The Doctor.

He was lost, deep in his thoughts while looking at the Universe before him only like a Time Lord would do. After a while, he sighed and walked to the desk. Untying his bow tie, he left it hanging around his neck, casually unbuttoning the collar of his shirt. Looking at something on his desk, the most tender and soft look was painted on his face before a hint of pain made its way to his eyes, growing, to finally make him shut them and look away. He took off his purple coat and put it on the chair, pulling up his shirt sleeves up to his elbows before resting himself on the chair back, turning his back to the door. He bowed his head with a sigh full of concern. But then, he stood still, perfectly still. He was listening, she knew that, he was searching, trying to find… her.

He turned around and slowly started to walk towards the door slightly ajar, so slightly that he could not see if she was on the other side.

Seeing him coming closer, she smiled and closed her eyes.

* * *

Feeling that tingling sensation becoming more and more intense, the Doctor stood still. It was the same tingling sensation he was feeling when Clara was around.

He turned around and looked at the door.

Ajar.

Only slightly, but ajar. Was she...?

He slowly walked up to his door and grabbed the doorknob, the tingling increasing under his skin.

He opened the door, expecting to see her on the other side.

Nothing.

The corridor was empty, no one was on the other side of the door.

It was just him. Him and his thoughts.

* * *

 **I do hope you liked it, let me know what you think :)**


	43. Chapter 43

**Hello everyone! I hope you are all alright!**

 **Here comes a new chapter! This is a prequel for Journey to the Center of the Tardis, I do hope you will like it. You can read it while listening to "BBC Sherlock Theme Song" (by Johnny Campbell on Youtube) as I wrote it while listening to it, which means I tried to make it fit to the music rhythm.**

 **Turtle: you are awesome and I can't wait for your theories ;) Thank you so so so much for your support**

 **Thanks to Freya Astrid Nova for the proofread, I'll upload the next chapter of her story right after publishing mine :)**

 **Thank you all for following me, keep sending me your thoughts on the story :)**

 **Let's get on with the chapter ;)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 43_

The Doctor looked around his console room, the time rotor humming and going round above his head as the lights on the walls were accompanying it.

He was alone.

In fact, he had not seen Clara for a few hours now and wondered where she was. He did not want her to be lost in the depths of the Tardis, did he?

Uncrossing his arms, he climbed down the stairs and started to walk down one of the corridors, heading to her bedroom first.

At one corner, as he was going to turn right, he heard a noise behind him and turned around, thinking it might be her.

Nothing.

He frowned a bit and went further, until he got to her bedroom. Resting his hand on the doorknob, he pushed slowly on the door, peeking inside the girl's room that had been decorated by the time machine with Tardis blue walls and red wooden furniture, books on the vast shelves.

No Clara.

Closing the wooden panel, he turned on his heels and went towards the other side, where he thought the noise came from a few minutes ago.

He walked down and down the corridors and hallways, until he saw a shadow at the end of one. He ran, as silently as he could, trying to catch up to it.

As he got to the end, at the corner of one more corridor in this maze that was his ship, it was empty.

Empty and silent.

His frown deepened and he shook his head, starting to think he was seeing things. He took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the area, suspicious, slowly stepping forward, carefully putting one foot after the other on the ground.

Again he heard a noise ahead, about fifty meters on a side corridor, and he started to chase it again.

A little chuckle echoed, as though it was far far away and his hearts failed when he recognized the voice that let the sound escape.

But this made him run faster to try to see where and who was there.

 _He ran and ran, until his breath shortened,_

 _His hearts racing and yearning for Heaven,_

 _Through the labyrinth of the infinite time machine,_

 _Chasing after a chimera, or an illusion,_

 _A trick, or maybe his reason._

* * *

Sipping her hot cup of Earl Grey tea, Clara rose an eyebrow as she was reading a good bit in the book she was holding.

Sitting in a very comfortable old style chair, certainly Victorian style, Clara was in the library of the Tardis, the huge room filled with wooden shelves and thousands of old books, being a lovely place to have a good time when they were not off saving the Universe.

She put back the cup on the little table next to her and turned the page.

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes were so entertaining to read. Especially since the Doctor, from her perspective was very similar to the character Sherlock.

For a minute she pondered on the idea of asking him to meet Sherlock Holmes. She was pretty fond of the Victorian era, and meeting the famous detective would be very interesting. But then again it was a fictional character so it would be impossible, though meeting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would already be a great experience as it is. Being in Victorian London would be a great experience. She got back to her reading.

Such a talented man.

She took the cup and sipped more of her tea with a pleased look.

Suddenly the heavy door of the library burst open and the Doctor ran inside, only stopping as he saw her sitting there, her eyebrows intrigued at the fact that he was pointing his sonic screwdriver at her.

Panting, he said:

"What the hell were you doing?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I was looking for you and there was that shadow and… Is that tea?! How comes you have tea?!"

"Oh." she let out looking down at the steamy cup. "The Tardis made it. I wanted to read a book, so I came here and on the table was the cup and this book. Very good choice for both of them." she said, a little spark lightning up her eyes.

The Doctor looked a bit confused at this but then grabbed her hand and led her back to the console room.

"Someday I'll get someone that understand what "don't wander off" means..." he mumbled before suddenly stopping.

"What's wrong?"

"Shhhh…" he shushed her, pointing at the shadow on the ground at the end of the corridor, as though someone was walking away.

"Doctor, I don't see anything…"

"Stay with me." he said, and they started to run, up and up, faster and faster through the corridors, rooms, hallways and staircases, sometimes stopping to scan the area.

Until finally, they got to the console room.

There, he flicked some buttons and reached for one screen, scanning the whole time machine for lifeforms, Clara at his side.

"Doctor, I don't think there's something here, it might just have been a light effect or steam, like here in the console room." she reassured him.

"Yeah …" he slowly said, as they were the only two life forms displayed on screen. "How come the Tardis made you tea? She has never done that before." he then asked, turning to her, his arms crossed.

She smiled with a smirk and pat the console unit with a gentle look.

"We get along well I think, that's all, you should be happy we do, it could be worse you know!" she said before heading to her bedroom. Before entering the corridor, she turned around and said with a wink: "Don't worry Doctor, you're still her madman."

 _And on his question, silence fell_

 _The madman and his reason, knowing full well,_

 _That about that girl, was something incredible_

 _As she was, for sure, Impossible._

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, please don't hesitate to give me some feedback, it really helps to know where I am going :)**


	44. Chapter 44

**Hello dear readers!**

 **Here we go with the rewriting of Journey to the Center of the Tardis! I do love this episode, I hope I'll make justice to it. So again, same idea, I take the episode and (try to) change the plot to lead towards the finale. I hope you will like it :)**

 **Yesterday night was the starting of series 9 with The Magician's Apprentice, what did you think of it? (if you want to answer in review, please no spoil for the ones who haven't watched it yet, or send me a PM :) )  
I really loved it for many reasons, one very linked to my next writing ;) It seemed so short though, I felt like it lasted only 20 min O_O and it left me looking at the screen for 5 long minutes trying to process everything and just say "Moffat, Moffat, Moffat... you bloody genius" (yeah because whatever you think of him, you can't deny he _is_ a genius, try and do what he does before criticizing him)  
**

 **Turtle: I'll never thank you enough for your support, you are just amazing!**

 **I'll let you get on with the chapter now!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 44_

"You said-"

"I know what I said, I was the one who said it!"

"You said you wanted to fly her!" insited the Doctor as he was walking behind Clara, both going round the console.

"Yeah well I don't know what crossed my mind that day, probably got over excited." she shrugged though, she seemed quite nervous.

"Eh, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

He looked at her with a concerned look on his face. Since this morning she seemed very nervous, wrapping her arms around herself and waddling from one foot to the other in her red flowery dress.

"Did she do something mean to you?"

"No! Not at all!" she exclaimed, opening her eyes wide at the fact he could think that. She stroked the console unit. "She'd never do that."

"Okay, take the wheel, well not the wheel but I'll make it easy." he said starting to push some buttons and controls. "Shut it down to basic mode for you."

"Basic?" she said raising her eyebrows. "Because I'm a girl?"

"No!" he said, serious. But as soon as she looked away, he smirked, making it obvious that it actually was _because_ she was a girl. Preventing himself from laughing when she looked back at him, he reached for a key with "Smiths" engraved on it and turned it.

As he was behind Clara, showing her the different controls in front of her, they started to hear music and as the young girl pushed a switch, all the lights turned off before red ones started to go round the walls.

"That wasn't me, I just touched it!"

"Err… Okay…" he said, not understanding what was going on with his beloved Tardis.

"Doctor?"

"All the electrical impulses are jammed!" he said, trying hard to push a lever. "I can't get the shields back up, she's completely vulnerable!"

He managed to push the lever back up, but it created an explosion, sparks escaping the console unit as the Tardis was hijacked.

"Magnetic hobble-field, we're flying right into it! Clara! Stay by me!" he called, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him to protect her while the console kept fighting with sparks.

"Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this!" she said, holding onto him.

"Oh yes, big friendly button!" he shouted over the sound of explosions and music.

"You're lying!"

"Yep!"

"To stop me freaking out?"

"Is it working?" he asked, as he was still trying to regain the control of his time machine.

"Not so much!" she said, holding tighter onto him, her arms around his waist. As she was looking down, she suddenly saw a device looking like a grenade roll on the floor. She let go of him and took the object and soon let out a cry before dropping it on the floor, her hand burnt.

Suddenly it all went white, the Tardis shaking violently and a blinding light coming from the explosion.

* * *

"What is it, some kind of escape pod?" said a young black man, his voice sounding metallic with some words.

"Come on." said an older one designating the blue police box that had been dumped on a pile of cables, laying on it. "Crack it open." he ordered the other older black man.

The oldest of the three walked up to the blue box and with a heavy hammer tried to smash the doors.

Nothing.

"It's doing nothing!" he said, incredulous. It is just wood, it should have broke.

"Use the thermo-charge and blast it." said the one that seemed to be the leader, throwing a device that looked like a grenade. As the oldest was about to charge it, the youngest stopped him.

"No, no, no, wait. It's like she's alive. She's... she's suffering. I can feel it. I can feel it!"

"That's just robot rant, Tricky!"

"No, Gregor, he's right." said the oldest. "Looks like there's a broken fuel line." he continued, pointing at the smoke coming out of the machine.

"All right. All right, put it back." said Gregor. "No salvage today, boys. Open the bay doors."

"Wait." spoke up the youngest. His eyes glimmered with a green light. Bionic eyes. "Somebody's under that thing. The crew were still on board when we dragged her in!" he said, pointing at the cables where two feet could be seen.

Gregor took his two partners aside and whispered:

"We did nothing. If anyone asks, that ship was already busted. You got that? And you, make sure you keep your oily mouth shut, right?"

"It's rude to whisper. Hi. I'm the Doctor!" said the man in a bow tie as he put his arms around the men's shoulders. "And you are? Er, Van Baalen and... Van Baalen." he continued, shaking their hands. "Van Baalen and Van Baalen. That's going to get confusing later."

"We found you drifting." said Gregor.

"Yeah, your ship was junked up pretty bad." said Bram, the oldest of the Van Baalens.

"What broke my ship was a magno-grab." the Doctor said with his smart look. "Found this remote in your pocket. Eh? What are the chances? Outlawed in most galaxies, this little beastie can disable whole vessels unless you have shield oscillators, which I turned off so that Clara could fly. Damn it! Clara. Where is she? Girl, about er… so high." he said, trying to estimate her height. "Feisty." As none of the men in front of him seemed to have seen her, that could only mean one thing. "She's still on board..."

He ran to the Tardis doors and was about to open them when, once again, Tricky interrupted.

"No, wait. Your pod is leaking fuel. If she's still in there, she's dead."

The Doctor thought for a moment. No she won't be dead. She will not die.

"Ah, respirators!" he said, looking over them.

"We can open the doors for a split second, reach in and grab her." said Gregor.

"Trust me, we can't. Now please, help me get her out."

"I'm telling you, she fried" insisted the youngest.

"Shut it, tin mouth. What sort of fee are we talking?" said the leader.

"If you help me get her out, you get the machine, all the scrap, eh?" the Doctor said, trying to bargain.

"It's not worth the risk." said Bram. "Four feet of metal? Nah."

"What if I can guarantee you the best haul you've ever had?"

"Bram, open the bay doors." Gregor decided, ignoring the madman.

"No, no! Please, stop! Listen, listen. Right behind those doors is the salvage of a lifetime."

They looked at each other but in the end Gregor decided to risk it. They could still have a look and if it was not worth it they could easily get out and open the bay doors.

"Hey, are we really going to risk it?" asked Bram. "That thing is spewing poison. We should blow it back into space."

"Get your gear."

"Hey, I don't take orders from my kid brother."

"Don't try and form sentences, all right? Stick to what you do best." Gregor said, patting his cheek.

"Tell me." started the Doctor as he was grabbing a respirator. "since when does an android need a blast suit and a respirator?"

"Flesh coating, same as us." answered Bram. "He'd burn up."

"No fear, no hate, no pain." said Tricky, putting on the respirator.

The Doctor headed to the Tardis and taking his key, unlocked the doors, opening the time machine.

"Salvage of a lifetime?" asked Gregor.

"I feel pretty confident I can deliver on that." he answered. "Here we go."

They all follow the Doctor inside, who was already at the console.

"I don't get it. I thought she was lying on her side!" said the leader.

"The Tardis is special." said the Time Lord. "She has her own gravity. I'd explain if I had some charts and a board pen."

"It's... it's... it's bigger-"

"On the inside." he finished for him. "Do you know, I get that a lot."

"Whoa... Awesome!" exclaimed Tricky.

"Well put. Whoa and awesome." he said, appreciating the youngest of the group. He switched a button and the extractor fans vented the fumes from the console room. "Safe to breath!" he said as he took off the respirator, the other three doing the same.

He took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the area.

"Okay, now, the last thing I remember, you were right there. Come on, Clara, talk to me..." he mumbled.

"How big is this baby?" asked Bram.

"Picture the biggest ship you've ever seen. Are you picturing it?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now forget it, because this ship is infinite."

"It could take you hours to find the girl." said Gregor.

"Days." corrected the Doctor. "Plus this whole place is toxic. She could be dead by the time I reach her. So, here's the mission. We're going to find her in one hour."

"We?"

"You're my guys for this."

"That wasn't the deal!" exclaimed Gregor.

"'Tis now." said the Doctor, his face suddenly becoming very grave.

"What makes you think we'll help?" spoke up Bram.

The Time Lord pulled two levers and a countdown clock started on the scanner screen.

"I just activated the Tardis self-destruct system. One hour until this ship blows."

As Bram tried to escape by the door that was still open, the time machine herself shut the door right in his face, locking herself down.

"Don't try to leave. The Tardis is in lockdown. I'll open those doors when Clara's by my side."

"You crazy lunatic!" exclaimed Bram.

"My ship, my rules!" the Doctor shouted, his voice growling like the thunder, the atmosphere becoming strangely dark around him in everyone's eyes.

"You'll kill us all. And the girl." Gregor tried to reason him.

"She's going to die if you don't help me. And I won't tolerate that." said the Oncoming Storm. "Don't get into a spaceship with a madman. Didn't anyone ever teach you that?" And as Gregor and Bram were trying to get through the doors, the Doctor hovered his index finger over a red button. "Okay, a little gentle persuasion. Say thirty minutes."

He pressed the button and the countdown jumped to 29:59:10.

"She'll die even quicker now!" exclaimed Bram.

"We all perform better under pressure. Anybody want to go for fifteen minutes?" he proposed, hovering again his finger over the button.

"Whoa!" the brothers stopped him.

"It's your own time you're wasting." he said with a terrifying smile. "Salvage of a lifetime. You meant the ship. I meant Clara."

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, don't forget to tell me what you think :)**


	45. Chapter 45

**Hello everybody!**

 **I hope you are all alright!**

 **I'm so sorry for taking a week between every chapter, I'm back to university so I have quite a lot of work to do, plus I have to move out and in again! But don't worry, I'll manage to fit in the deadline!**

 **I hope you're all enjoying series 9, I have to say I find it so amazing, even if I just look at the writing, it's absolutely genius!**

 **Turtle: kudos! :D**

 **Thank you Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading and the support! Go check out her story on my profile it's called "The Starving Ones" and show her love :)**

 **So here comes Chapter 45, still in the rewriting of Journey to the Center of the Tardis. I hope you will like it as there are more changes in this one :) Keep telling me what you think of the story, keeps me motivated and helps me to better my writings :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody -x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 45_

Pain.

That was the first thing that came to her mind.

Clara slowly tried to open her eyes, her vision blurred and a terrible pain flashed before them, making her wince as it crossed her head violently.

She looked around and distinguished the shape of the walls, guessing she was probably in one of the corridors close to the console room.

Hardness was the second word that crossed her mind. It felt as if she was crushed between two walls, the heavy pressure on her body not allowing much air into her lungs. The smoke around her did not help her breathing and she choked a bit before coughing. As her vision was becoming more clear, she looked at the hand she had put before her mouth and frowned.

Blood.

There was blood on her palm.

She wiped her lips with the back of the same hand and looked: she coughed blood.

Great.

Looking down at her collapsed body, she realised that the crushing feeling was actually justified by the big piece of metal she was under.

Clara pushed it away, finally appreciating to breath though it was generating a pain in her chest. She sat up and grabbed the back of her head as she was doing so, the flashing pain coming back. She must have hit the ground pretty hard.

A tingling called her attention on her other hand. Looking at it, it seemed that the grenade kind of thing she held earlier left a burn that looked like letters on her skin.

She got up, carefully, and once she was up on her feet, she looked back at the burn before clenching her fist and closing her eyes for a second, as though she was concentrating very hard.

Then she looked around, trying to see where she was.

Peri-console corridor, she could get back to the console easily but… she looked toward the other side and decided to go deeper in the time machine. If the Doctor was in the console room, he would have already found her.

Facing a door with a flashing red light on its top, she chose not to open it and turned left when suddenly she heard a noise behind her.

She could not see anything but decided to run, ignoring the pain in her chest, and entered a stoned room filled with plenty of various objects. She took the little Tardis Amy had done and spinned it with a soft smile before putting back on its shelf, her smile fading but her eyes opening wide as she saw the cot.

She slightly touched the wooden cot engraved with Gallifreyan writings, her hand trembling.

But as she touched it, she startled as a golden light suddenly appeared before her eyes in a swirling volute of particles that soon faded after she removed her hand from the Gallifreyan etchings.

Again she heard a noise behind her, somewhere in a dark corners of the room. Fearing whatever the noise could be, she got out of the room running to the opposite direction. Clara passed past the swimming pool and the observatory and headed to the library.

She looked around, it seemed empty for the moment. Her attention got caught by a golden glimmer in the corner of her left eye. On a pedestal, under a beam of light, was a book. She had never seen it here before.

She walked up to it. The cover, leathered, had a piece of metal on it, engraved with Gallifreyan writings and the title, in English: 'The Time War'

She tilted her head a little and frowned, opening the book and skimming through the pages.

Written in English. Why would it be written in English…?

Suddenly a word called her attention, on the corner of a page. A name.

"So that's who…"

But once again, she heard a noise behind her and this time, she got to see what it was: a human shape looking like it was made of lava. As it was walking toward her, trying to reach her, Clara avoided it and ran off, escaping the library.

* * *

The Doctor, Tricky, Bram and Gregor left the console room and started to walk down corridors.

As Gregor was staying a few steps back, he took out his personal scanning device:

"Report. What's on board this thing?"

"Dynomorphic generators." started the female voice of the computer while scanning. "Conceptual geometer, beam synthesiser, orthogonal engine filters."

He caught up with the other as the Doctor was kneeling, looking at a stain on the ground. He touched it and looked at it closely.

Blood.

Definitely Clara's, and this was not good at all.

"Guys! Guys, look, I think we should split up." he said. "It's our best chance to find the girl, you know it is."

"Don't touch a thing, the Tardis will get huffy if you mess." said the Doctor, warning them with the warning finger.

As he kept on walking, Gregor turned to Tricky and said:

"Keep in radio contact, all right?" And then turned to Bram. "Get back to the console, strip it apart."

"Okay."

And he went on his own, following the beeping of his scanner.

"Everything." it suddenly spoke up.

"What? Report."

"Everything, behind that door."

"Everything?"

"Sensor detects everything you could possibly want." said the computer.

Tempted by this, Gregor opened the door, revealing a dark room with a tree made of metal in its center. Tubes, cables and glowing glass globes with Gallifreyan writings on it were hanging from it.

"I don't understand, give me a price tag." he said, walking amidst the hanging globes.

"Incalculable."

"What?"

"More valuable than the total sum of any currency. Living metal. Bespoke engineering. Whatever machine you require, this system will build it."

Looking at the globes, he thought for a short second before putting the device back in his pocket and taking the focused laser cutter from his backpack, he started to try to cut in the metal to get a piece of this incredible machine.

But suddenly he stopped as a cold hand had grabbed his throat by behind, an ice-cold and very low voice talking in his hear:

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Not daring to move as he felt the other hand being placed on his head, ready to break his neck, he asked with a trembling voice:

"Who are you?"

Suddenly the ice-cold turned into burning, making him whimper.

"Your worst nightmare if you don't put this focused laser cutter down."

* * *

 **Let me know what you think of it :)**


	46. Chapter 46

**Hello dear readers! Here comes a new chapter! Thank you all for your reviews and follows :D**

 **I'm so sorry that I take more time between my updates, but I'm actually very busy between University, working on character conception for a friend, helping out Freya and produce many piece of writing for Uni. I do as much as I can!**

 **I wanted this chapter to be longer but I actually cut it here so you'd have a new chapter sooner and wouldn't have to wait more :) I hope you will like it, as you've seen, I've quite changed the plot. Don't hesitate to give me feedback, it's really appreciated and helps me a lot to improve myself and better my storyline. Plus I love to see what reaction chapters create and what theories are building up in your minds ;)**

 **Thank you to Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading! Girl, you rule! Get rid of that cold very soon! And for those who are interested, I've just published the 6th chapter of her story "The Starving Ones", it's in my stories (though I didn't write anything, it's all hers :)), go have a look :)**

 **Turtle: Yaaaaay you're back! Missed you girl! As always, thank you :D**

 **Now, I'll let you get on with the chapter. Reading it with Series 8 soundtrack in background might feel better as I wrote it while listenning to it. I find Series 8 soundtrack and mood much more creepy, and with series 9, it promises to be even creepier :D**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 46_

"Okay, okay, I-I put it down, look." he said, letting the cutter fall to the ground.

"No, Gregor don't-..." started the voice of the Doctor behind him before fading. "...Touch it…"

What was going on? Gregor could not see anything except what was in front of him and that meant nothing.

"Clara..?" asked the Doctor, somehow incredulous.

The burning hands on Gregor's skin suddenly cooled down at a normal temperature and the pressure around his throat loosened. How did she do this? How was that possible? Still holding him, she made him turn around to face the Doctor and Tricky.

"Hello pretty boy!" the voice said joyfully.

"What? Pretty boy?" the Time Lord mumbled, confused.

She let go of Gregor and ran to the Doctor who caught her in a spinning hug.

"Clara! My Clara! How did you find us?" he asked, looking down at her.

"I found Gregor, same as you did." she answered.

"I suppose the Tardis brought us here to prevent him from hurting her." he said, convincing himself. He looked at her again. "Are you alright? I've seen blood while looking for you in the corridors, I-

"I'm alright, thanks." she cut him off, ignoring the throbbing pain in her chest. She had to hold it back, she had to, to keep the burn on her hand she had to hold it back. So he could see.

She could see his little worried frown coming up but a movement caught her eye: Gregor was touching one of the globes.

"Oi." she called. And he instantly removed his hands.

The Doctor walked up to him, threatening:

"I said 'don't touch anything', what did you not understand in that sentence? If it wasn't for Clara you could have doomed us all just because you saw pretty glowing globes! Do you think the Tardis would have let you rip her apart without any consequences? Time Lord engineering: Time Lords were very clever, no dress sense, dreadful hats, but _smart_." As he was scolding him, his voice was getting lower and his eyes darker as he thought of one of the consequences. "You could have killed Clara, _my_ Clara. Now move, let's get back to the console room before I change my mind and leave you to rot in the maze that the Tardis is."

They all walked outside the Architectural Reconfiguration System room but as soon as the door closed behind them, the Doctor turned to face Clara.

"Wait." he said, looking at her suspiciously. "How did you know his name? You're not even surprised they're here."

"Read the name on his jacket." she shrugged. Then she tapped her temp. "And well, the Tardis informed me that you have made some... 'friends'..."

He just nodded, satisfied with that and went on, in the direction of the console room.

At an intersection, they looked at the different ways offered to them when they heard a noise. It echoed against the walls, making it impossible to none of them to tell from which side it came from.

The Doctor slowly took out his sonic screwdriver and started to scan the area while Gregor was contacting Bram on his radio:

"Bram? Bram can you hear me? Bram don't touch anything!"

At the other end of the radio, they only heard an incomprehensible mumble followed by the sound of a thud. Right after that, they heard some weird noises as though Bram was fighting with something, or someone.

Silence.

"Bram…? Bram! Channel's dead."

"We've got to help him!" exclaimed Tricky.

"It's over! It's too late, he's gone!"

"Shh!" the Doctor shushed him. "Your concern about your brother is really touching, the android is more cut up about it than you. Now will you two stop bickering and listen." he said, flicking his sonic and looking at the readings, getting closer to the boys and grabbing Clara's hand, pulling her in protectively. "There is something else down there. Multiple life forms on board the Tardis with us. I am getting a massive signal."

"Where are they?" asked Tricky.

"Oh you're not going to like the answer, about two steps away… One step…"

As the noise they heard before rattled just behind them, they all turned around to see a human shape made of lava. It was as though two of them were standing side by side, but merged like… like siamese twins.

"Run!" shouted the Doctor, running to the opposite corridors, dragging Clara with him until they reached the corridor near the console room. He closed the door and locked it with his sonic, hoping that it would hold.

"Okay! Back to the console room, should be safe… for now." he said, flicking a switch or two.

"All right, all right." started Gregor. "A deal's a deal: you got the girl back, now cancel the self-destruct."

"Ah, aah yes." the Doctor said, a mischievous smile starting to draw on his lips. "You know, I've got to tell you, uh, I won't be needing you in my quiz team."

"What?"

"There is no self-destruct! Hey! Hehe, had you doing though boys, didn't I?" he said, punching friendly Gregor as this one's face was slowly turning into a "I'm going to kill you" face. "I just wiggled a few buttons! Yeah the old wiggly button trick." he said, flicking some switches that were not doing anything. "Oh and the face! You've got to do the face: save her, or we'll all die. I thought I rusted it a bit, but…"

 _Oh dear, now here was the Doctor playing the childish drama queen,_ thought Clara, hiding her amused smile.

"So you're telling us we're safe." said Tricky.

"Ish. Apart from the monsters. Guys, don't worry! 'Countdown's a fake!" he said. "Look, just give me a second, I'll turn it off. I only made it _look_ as though the engine was actually exploding." he continued, switching other controls before taking the screen. "Eerr…Ah… That's not good. Okay, don't panic. Or maybe panic."

Clara, who remained silent until now, cleared her throat and said, knowing he did a mistake:

"Something you want to share with the rest of us?"

"Er… It appears the engine is damaged. We're in trouble, Clara, proper trouble." he said, looking at her. Somehow, she could see the worry in his eyes, beyond the veil of his Time Lord countenance. The real worry, the fear even. The fear of losing her, again. "It needs fixing or we're toast."

"So now would be a good time to use a big friendly button, right?" she asked, walking next to him.

"Yeah… Sorry, I should have had one built in…" he said, slightly stroking her cheek before grabbing her hand, turning his heels and heading to the wall of the console room, taking his sonic out.

"Where we're going?" asked Tricky as everyone was following him.

"Detour!" he said as he knelt before an hexagonal panel, sonicking it and taking the piece out. "To the center... of the Tardis..."

* * *

 **Let me know what you think! :)**


	47. Chapter 47

**Hello my dear readers! How have I missed you all! I am so so very sorry for the time it took me to update this chapter but there is a very good reason to it: exams! Yup, I had exams at uni and an awful lot of writing assignments to do, including a short story so it took me a lot of time. But now here is Chapter 47, the end of Journey to the Center of the Tardis!**

 **Next episode treated will be the Name of the Doctor, a Meanwhile in the Tardis might find its way between the two stories but I remind you that Time and Space will reach its end before Christmas so we are coming very close to the ending.**

 **Turtle: My dear you are an incredible support! I wish I had the time to talk to you more lately but I'm glad you are still supporting my work! :)**

 **Thank you to Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading! You are amazing girl, such a great support, you guys really should check her story on my profile: "The Starving Ones".**

 **Do not hesitate to give me feedback, I take criticism very good as long as it's justified and constructive :)**

 **I hope you will like this chapter! You can listen to "A madman in a box" extended version when they reach the heart of the Tardis if you like :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 47_

Between the steam coming out of the pipes and grids, four shapes were trying to find their way to the heart of the machine, only the constant buzzing and light of the sonic screwdriver to guide them in this endless shifting maze.

A few steps ahead of them, a shadow seemed to cross the corridor, making Clara step ahead and stop their progression.

"Shhh…There's something in here." she said frowning, trying to see.

"Those things, they followed us." said Tricky.

Clara turned to glance at the Doctor. He was hiding something from them, Clara knew it, she knew that face.

"Doctor…" she started.

"Trust me." he simply said, looking down at her and squeezing the hand that did not bear the burn.

She only nodded as an answer before becoming startled like the others as a new rattle came from behind them, meaning one of the creatures was chasing them.

"They're on the move again." said Gregor.

"Run, move, move!" shouted the Doctor, making all the others go first.

They ran through the corridors and at one point, Clara turned around… to find she was alone again.

"Doctor...? Ugh, again…"

She looked around her to the different corridors and the direction the Tardis was offering her.

Suddenly she jumped as at the other end of the corridor she saw herself walking.

"I know what I said I was the one who said it." she heard her own voice echo against the walls.

She made a few steps in direction of her reflection, frowning a little.

"Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this!" she heard herself say behind her, making her jump again. It felt weird to be within and without at the same time, because this was not just a reflection like in a mirror, it was moving and talking on its own. It felt weird to see the person she was…

She backed away slowly and as she stepped to her left in a corridor, still watching her reflection, she started to run. At a corner, she almost bumped into the Doctor, letting out a surprised exclamation.

"Oh thank God! Doctor?"

He was not looking at her and seemed lost in his thoughts. It seemed that he could not even hear her.

"Clara stop! Don't touch it!"

She jumped again, surprised by the voice of the Doctor coming behind her.

"There's a rupture in time somewhere on board the ship." he explained getting carefully closer to her. "A small tear in the fabric of the continuum. It must have happened when the Tardis was pulled in by the salvage vessel. The Tardis is leaking."

"Leaking what?" she asked as the Doctor grabbed her hand and led her through the corridors back to the others.

"The past. You and me." he said. "Everything we've done, everything we've said. Recent history. It's not real, it's a memory."

He suddenly stopped and Clara bumped into him. She leant on the side to see what was ahead of them, what she saw there was one of the creatures.

"What about this one?" she whispered, making the creature turn its head towards them.

"If you give me the option, I'd say this one's real. Run!" he exclaimed, dragging Clara with him as the creature decided to chase them. "She's right onto us!" he added as they stopped for a few seconds.

"Doctor-"

"Clara, don't ask me any more."

He looked around them and picked a corridor to try and escape the creature. After a few steps, he pushed Clara in the corner of the wall and a metal frame, covering her with his body to protect her. She rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeats to try and sooth her panicked breath. They could hear the creature searching for them but after a few moments, another memory of Clara and the Doctor walked down another corridor, catching the creature's primitive attention and it ran after them.

Clara felt the breath of the Doctor tickling the top of her head as he sighed, relieved. He leant back to check if it was safe and he led Clara along the corridors again. Thuds were starting to be heard in the walls and pipes, making him look anxiously above them.

"What's that noise?" she asked in a whisper.

"We're right under the primary fuel cells."

"So? So, so what?"

"So… so the fuel's spilled out, so the rods will be exposed." he said. "Means they'll cool…"

"... and start to warp." she said, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah, maybe even…"

"No, no you don't say it, don't you dare say it."

"Maybe even…. break apart…" he said under his breath.

A rod flew out of the wall to pierce the one on the other side, inches away from them, cutting them in their 'finishing-the-other's-sentences' conversation.

"Run?" she said.

"I'm liking how you're thinking."

"Yeah."

They ran, the Doctor trying his best to protect his Clara from the rods successively piercing the walls under the pressure when, only a few steps ahead, they heard a loud scream that sent apprehensive chills down their back. They walked up to the source of the noise to find Gregor trying to pull out a rod that had pierced Tricky's shoulder.

"Cut my arm! I'm an android, I don't feel pain, no pain! N-no pain!" he shouted, his voice and face screaming the contrary of his words.

"Cut the metal!" ordered Clara to Gregor. "Now!" As Gregor was doing as he was told, Clara turned to Tricky: "Tricky, androids don't feel pain, they don't need respirators, no matter how advanced they are. He couldn't cut your arm off, ask yourself why."

"Two bionic eyes and a synthetic voice box." the Doctor said after scanning him with his sonic screwdriver. "But you my friend, are human. Flesh and blood."

Gregor finally managed to cut the metal rod and they pulled it out of Tricky's shoulder. When he finally caught back his breath, he looked up at Gregor.

"Why?" he simply asked.

"It was a joke, it was a stupid joke to relieve the boredom. I'm sorry, Tricky."

"Well it was very funny." said the Doctor, anger growling in his voice. "They lied to you, changed your identity just to provide some in-flight entertainment. Now move, we have to get to the engine room before the creatures come back. Move!"

* * *

"Where are we?" asked Tricky, as the Doctor was looking through the window in the door at the room behind it.

"Power source." he only said. "Right, you lot, wait here. I'll check if it's safe, we can only survive a minute or two in there."

"Or?" asked Clara, raising her eyebrows.

"Our cells will liquefy and our skin will start to burn."

"I always feel _so_ good after we've spoken." she said.

"Marvellous. Keep this door shut."

"That will _not_ be problem!"

The Doctor gave a warm smile before entering the room. As they waited, Gregor took out his computer device and started to scan Clara.

"Female human substance." it said. And as it was loading more information from her, Clara stretched out her hand and pressed a button to cancel the scan.

"Don't do that." she said, her voice low enough for Gregor to remember the cold and burning grip of her hands around his throat.

"Ever pointed that to yourself, Gregor?" said Tricky on an accusing tone. "What would it see? What sort of person does this to another human? Make them believe they're made of metal? Eh?! Who am I!" he shouted, his synthesized voice cracking.

"My mouthy kid brother." said Gregor, tearing off of his vest the badge with his name on and giving it to Tricky.

As he explained to Tricky how he lost his sight and voice in an accident and how everything started, Clara looked through the window at the Doctor who was coming back, just when the brothers were starting another fight.

"Stop!" the Doctor interrupted them. "Tricky, listen to me, ask yourself why he couldn't cut you up. He has just one tiny scrap of decency left in him, and you helped him find that, okay?" As Tricky nodded and backed away and the Doctor turned to Gregor: "Now you, don't ever forget this. Now let's go." He opened the door and led them into the power source room. "The Eye of Harmony!" he shouted over the deafening sound the huge orange mass in suspension was creating. "An exploding star in the act of becoming a black hole. Time Lord engineering: you rip the star from its orbit, suspend it in a permanent state of decay." He explained before leading them to the door on the other side of the catwalk.

But as they reached the door, they faced the siamese lava shape and the one that seemed to cover its face with its hand on the other side who were trying to get in by hitting the door repetitively. They turned on their heels to go back where they came from but faced again another lava shape.

"There's no way out! We're trapped!" shouted Gregor.

"Doctor!"

"I can't! Clara I can't tell you!" he said. She could see the pain leaking through the Time Lord countenance and covering his face. "I'm sorry, I tried to protect you. It isn't just the past leaking out through the time rift, it's the future. Listen, I brought you here to keep you safe, but it happened again…" he said, his voice cracking. "You died again…"

At these words, her eyes widened.

"Sensor detects animal DNA." the voice of Gregor's computer spoke up as he was scanning the creatures. "Human core element. Calculating data. Calculating data."

"Turn it off!" she shouted as she ran to Gregor. And before the sensor could provide the result, she took it out of his hands and threw it in the endless emptiness beneath them.

"Hang on!" said the Doctor as he realised something seeing Trick and Gregor next to each other trying to hold the door. "As long as we interrupt the timeline, this can't happen. Don't touch each other, otherwise time will reassert itself!" he said, pulling the brothers and separating them.

The burnt Clara finally managed to open the door and entered, trying to attack Gregor.

As he was about to fight it back, Clara stepped in and her foot whipping the air, she hit the creature, knocking it off. Holding herself on the guard-rail, she kicked it again, making it slip off the catwalk and join Gregor's sensor into its fall.

"Move!" she shouted, turning around to the men, stunned by her audacity. They turned around to see that the the two remaining creatures, the siamese one and the other were fading slowly until they disappeared completely.

"That was brilliant! Ahaah!" exclaimed the Doctor, kissing her forehead joyfully. They managed to get out of the Eye of Harmony room and be safe in the next corridor, just by the door of the engine room. "Ok, guys, wait here, should be safe now. Me and Clara are going to see if we can fix the engine. Don't touch anything!" and the Time Lord and Clara disappeared behind the door.

* * *

"The engine room, the heart of the Tardis." the voice of the Doctor echoed.

Clara looked at him and at the rocks at her feet that, a few step further, were disappearing to become a cliff, mist keeping the height secret.

"There's no way across." she said.

"No?" he said, walking up to the edge. "okay, you're right.

"So what do we do? Time for a plan, do you have a plan?"

"Weeell… No. No plan, sorry."

"We're dead" she just stated, crossing her arms. He will have a plan.

"Yes, we are, so just tell me."

"What?"

"Well there's no point now, we're about to die." he said, starting to flap his hands. She could hear the tension in his voice, tension, anxiety and a slight hint of… Anger? "Just tell me who you are."

"You know who I am." she answered, looking confused.

"No, I don't! I look at you every single day and I don't understand a thing about you!" he exclaimed, all his stress starting to leak out. "Why do I keep running into you? Why can I see someone else's eyes in yours? And why, _why_ \- no _how_ did you do what you did when we were at the café fighting the walking base stations?!"

"You invited me…" she answered, trembling slightly at the sight of the madness that was starting to burn in his eyes. She had never seen him like this.

"Before that, I met you in the Dalek Asylum: there was a girl in a shipwreck. She died saving my life and she was you. Victorian London: there was a governess who was really a barmaid, and we fought the Great Intelligence together, she died and it was _my_ fault, and _she_ was _you_!" he continued, getting closer to her, looking into her eyes, turning the Oncoming Storm mode against her as his voice was growling.

"You're scaring me.." she said with a little voice, backing away from him.

"What are you eh? A trick?! A trap?!"

She stepped back, scared by the anger flowing out.

"I don't unders-"

A scream finished her sentence as felt herself go, falling backwards in the depths of the cliff behind her.

At the last second, the Doctor's hands stretched out to grab her and pull her into a tight hug.

"You really don't, do you?" he whispered in her ear.

"I think I'm more scared of you right now than anything else in the Tardis..."

You're just Clara, aren't you? Just my Clara." he said poking her nose before pulling her in for another hug.

"Okay." she panted. "I don't know what the hell this is about but the hug is really nice."

"We're not going to die here." he said, still holding her tight. He then broke the hug, thinking about a plan, making Clara's lips stretch with a knowing smile. "This isn't real, it's a snarl. What does a wounded animal do? It tries to scare anyone else." he explained. "We're close to the engine. The Tardis is snarling at us, trying to frighten us off. We need to jump!"

"You're insane!" she exclaimed.

"We'll cross a portal to the engine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I can't."

"Well, that's watertight." she sighed, used to his very brilliant but dangerous ideas.

"Hey now, Clara, I have piloted this ship for over nine hundred years. Trust me this one time please." he said. But as he met her face with her eyebrows raised, he chuckled and grabbed her hand. "Okay, okay. As well as all the other times. Ready? Geronimo!"

"No wait!" she exclaimed, as he had started to run towards the cliff.

He turned around and looked at her, confused.

"We don't need to jump, it's the Tardis, she isn't snarling at us to protect herself, she is protecting us!" Clara said. At those words, the cliff decor around them faded and became all white. In front of them and around them were shattered pieces of metal, frozen in the air, still, and a deafening silence pressing against their eardrums.

"How did you…" he started to ask, confused, but seeing the state of the engine, he forgot about how Clara made the Tardis let them in. "The heart of the Tardis, the engine… It's already exploded…" he said, emotion in his voice. "It must have been the collision with the salvage ship. She wrapped her hands around the force, froze it…"

"So, so it's safe?"

"Temporary fix. Eventually this whole place will erupt." he said before being silent for a minute, fiddling his hands, lost. "There's no way I can save her now. She's just always been here for me, and taken care of me, and now it's my turn and I don't know what to do. I think it just…" his words trailed off.

Clara could hear in his voice the tears coming up as he was thinking back to that time, that one time he had really met her. That one time his beloved Tardis could talk. And as he was looking at the metal, her heart broken, torn apart and scattered around them, he could not help but have this memory of Idris dying to return to the Tardis console, still there, but silent. But for him, Clara knew it, it had felt as though she had died. And as now she was dying for real, it was making one more wound in his scarred hearts.

Clara stepped next to him and silently slipped her hand in his, supportive. He squeezed a bit her hand and as he did so, he noticed. Her hand was burning against his palm.

He looked at her palm and saw the burn forming reversed letters and started to chuckle as she gave him a smile.

"Big friendly button, aha oh Clara, Clara, my Clara… You are beautiful!" he said, stroking her cheek. "Beautiful fragile human skin. Like parchment. Thank you!" he added as he kissed her palm and let go of her hand. With a slight and discreet smirk she looked at her palm: the burn was now gone. "The rift in time, all the memories leaking out, I need to find the moment we crashed." he said taking out his sonic screwdriver and flicking it, music starting to echo. "I need to find the music!"

* * *

Led by the sonic screwdriver who was playing the echo of the music they heard when crashed, they all walked in the console room. Leaving Tricky and Gregor up while being taken to the source, the sonic led them under the console where they found a rift in the wall, a crack glowing white and the magno-grab on the ground next to it.

"The time rift, recent past, possible future." the Doctor stated.

"So, rewriting today, that's what you're going to do right?"

"I hope so." he said taking the magno-grad and engraving 'Big Friendly Button' on it with his sonic. "I've thrown this through the time rift before, I need to make sure this time. Going to take it in there myself, there might be a certain amount of yelling." he said, looking up to warn Clara.

"It's going to hurt?" she asked.

"Things that end your life often do that."

"I went to the library." she started after a silence. But the Doctor walked up to her and put a finger on her lips to shut her up.

"If I rewrite today, you won't remember, you won't go looking for my name." he said, moving his finger to caress her cheek.

"I don't want to forget, I will not forget one line of travelling with you, not one day." she answered, holding his gaze.

Brown and green.

The time rift shimmered a bit more for a second, making the green of the Doctor's eyes reflect in hers for a second before she closed them to look away.

He kissed her forehead and walked towards the rift. With a last smile, he stepped in it, screaming as the time rift was trying to erase him before being pulled in completely.

* * *

"Magnetic hobble-field, we're flying right into it! Clara! Stay by me!" he called, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him to protect her while the console kept fighting with sparks.

"Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this!" she said, holding onto him.

"Oh yes, big friendly button!" he shouted over the sound of explosions and music.

"You're lying!"

"Yep!"

"To stop me freaking out?"

"Is it working?" he asked as he was still trying to regain the control of his time machine.

"Not so much!" she said, holding tighter on him, her arms around his waist.

Suddenly a bright light flashed from the wall and a voice they both knew very well came out as the shape of the Doctor was half out of the rift.

"Doctor, Doctor! I'm from your future! We haven't got long to reset time!" he said throwing the magno-grab at himself before vanishing.

Seeing the grenade rolling on the floor, Clara picked it up.

"Clara! No, no!" the Doctor shouted as it was burning her hand. She let it go and he threw himself on the ground to catch it. Reading what was written on the little grenade, he laughed:

"Ahah! Big Friendly Button!"

He smashed his hand on the top of the magno-grab with a smile and a blinding light flashed.

* * *

Clara came in the console room, drying her hair with a towel. As she looked up at the time rotor, she smiled. She rested herself on the console next to the Doctor.

"I feel exhausted." she said.

"We had two days crammed into the space of one. Everything is back to normal now, everyone's safe!" he exclaimed, taking her towel and as he walked behind her to reach another panel of the console, whipped her bum with the cloth. As she was raising eyebrows, he said: "Don't mind me, I say stuff."

She smiled and as she started to walk out of the console room to go get a cup of tea in the kitchen, he asked:

"Do you feel safe?"

"Of course." she said with a smile.

"Give me a number, out of ten, ten being woohoo, and one being… aargh!" he said, obviously awkward.

"You're being weird."

"No but I need to know." he said more seriously walking up to her. "I need to know if you feel safe, if you're not afraid."

"Of?"

"The future. Running away with a spaceman in a box, anything could happen to you." he said looking down at her, worried. He had lost her twice already, he did not want to lose her one more time.

"That's what I'm counting on. Push the button." she said with a wink before walking away.

A smiled stretched his lips.

She was Impossible.

He returned to the console and pushed the handbrake lever and the time rotor throttle, making the Tardis start a new journey to another place, another time.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, let me know what you think! :)**


	48. Chapter 48

**Hello everyone, I'm back! Again exams are coming around and I finally finished my short story that I have to hand back on December 7th. To have a feedback before handing it back I've decided to publish it on fictionpress (original work branch of this website) so I would really really really appreciate if you go have a look, I have the same account name there and the story title is "Hide and Seek" so I can edit it according to the feedback before the date it's due. Bear in mind it is an exam and it will receive a grade, the only grade of the semester in this subject.**

 **So here is chapter 48, a short Meanwhile in the Tardis prequel to the Name of the Doctor that will be the finale of Time and Space. It's based on "She, He said." of course, a prequel I love. I hope you will like it, I know some of you start to find it long but it's reaching its end, I hope you are still supporting me though.**

 **Thank you a million times to my dear Turtle who is an incredible support and of course Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading and support! (I have updated a chapter on her story and she uploaded chapters under her profile too if you are interested!)**

 **I'll let you get on with the chapter :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 48_

 _She said:_

Clara was walking down the corridors of the Tardis, led by a inner voice to a room. As she pushed the button, the door lifted and she entered the room, it looked empty and the walls were blank.

With a smile, she spinned around making her teal dress float around her hips, and suddenly the room darkened.

On the walls, the snowy streets of London could be seen and snow was falling from the ceiling.

The holographic room.

It seemed, as she walked, as though the ground was covered in snow. Pure, white, and creaking under her feet.

She waltzed for a moment under the snowflakes, a childish happiness painted on her delicate face.

"One day, you meet the Doctor." she started, looking up at the holographic starry sky. "And of course, it's the best day ever. It's just the best day of your life. Because…" she stopped. She frowned a little and then a soft smile stretched on her lips. "Because he's brilliant and funny and… mad. And most of all, he really needs you. But the trick is: you will fall in love. I do that trick quite a lot, sometimes twice a day… But once you start running, you start to forget… Slowly."

Her voice faded along with her smile as a much more serious expression took place on her face. She turned around and in the center of the room, under a beam of light that made the snow sparkle, the Doctor was standing, frozen. She walked up to his projection and looked up at his face with a soft look. "After a while, you just stop asking. Who are you? Where are you from? What's that is in your way and where're you going?"

She raised her hand toward his cheek, but on the point of touching it, she stopped. A hint of sadness had, somehow, made its way to her eyes. "Yeah I'm used to not knowing… I thought I never would… I was wrong…" she whispered, turning her gaze away from him as she started to walk away toward where the door - hidden by the holographic decor - was supposed to be.

One last time, she looked at the projection of the Doctor. "I know who the Doctor is, I know how he began and where he's going. I found out his biggest secret… The day we went to Trenzalore." she let out in a whisper.

The decor darkened slowly and she disappeared in the shadows.

The room became blank again.

Empty.

* * *

 _He said:_

Looking up at the time rotor going round on the ceiling of the console room at the rhythm of the Tardis' soft humming, the Doctor sighed. He then looked at the screen in front of him where a picture of Melody was displayed.

He let his hearts bleed as his eyes met hers. No, he did not get over her, he never will. He will never forget her. It was hurting… hurting so much to look at her again, but he had to do it, he had to look at her… Because he had to remember what it felt like. So he would not forget it for the next one to walk through these doors, to not put them in danger, to protect them, because he could not take another loss. And most of all… Because he missed her. He missed Melody.

Swallowing with difficulty, he pushed the screen aside, making it turn until the second screen faced him, this time displaying a picture of Clara in Victorian London, side by side with a picture of her modern self.

"From the beginning she was impossible." he started. "The Impossible Girl. I met her in the Dalek Asylum and she died. I met her again in Victorian London, and she died." he said, incomprehension in his voice as well as pain at the flashback of her multiple deaths that was coming back to him. "Both times saving my life, by giving her own… But now she's back, and we're running together and she's perfect. Perfect in every way for me, except she can't remember that we already met."

At these words, a hologram of Clara appeared next to him and he walked up to her, a soft smile on his lips that soothened his gaze.

"Clara… My Clara. Always brave, always funny, always exactly what I need. Perfect… Too perfect." he said, doubt in his voice as he was not understanding what she was. "I'm used to not knowing. I thought I never would." he said as his voice became deeper.

He looked down at her delicate face, her gentle smile, and as he was about to lightly caress her cheek, he stopped and let his hand fall back, a deep sadness filling his green eyes, tears starting to find their way to them.

He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, his voice slightly trembled:

"I was wrong…"

He turned away from her, walking along the console unit before stopping and looking up at her again, this time, determination in his eyes and voice:

"I know who Clara Oswald is and how she came to be in my life. I found out… The day we went to Trenzalore." he let out, his voice deep.

He pulled a lever and her hologram glitched before disappearing.

The Tardis' soothing humming echoed again in the console room.

Empty.

* * *

 _They said:_

She was there.

She had her back turned from him as she was looking through the bay window that was giving on the whole of Time and Space.

He had left the Tardis in a safe drifting mode.

The wooden bookshelves and the smell of old books were quite a comforting ambiance, a cup of tea still producing steam on the side table near a seat. That was a part of the library the Doctor surprisingly did not know: he had never seen a bay window in the library.

A soft smile stretched upon his lips as he looked at her from afar. She would always ask to see the stars. She loved just sitting there by the Tardis doors and look at the Universe before her marvelled eyes.

He calmly walked up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder after a small hesitation. Without a word, without looking up at him, she slipped between his arms, and wrapped her arms around him as her face against his chest was still turned toward the stars.

The beating of his hearts echoed in her head. He raised a hand and stroke her hair silently.

After a moment of both of them being silent, the Doctor spoke up, though his voice was low.

"I'll keep you safe. I promise."

"I can handle myself don't worry." she answered with a little smile.

"I'll keep you safe anyway. I promise Clara, always."

After a moment of silence, she looked up at him. She stroked his cheek with a soft look on her face.

"You never know… Time will tell, it always does."

She lifted herself on the tip of her toes and kissed his cheek before going back to her seat, she grabbed the cup of tea and dived herself back into the book of Jane Austen she was reading, leaving the shadow of a smile wander on the Doctor's lips.

* * *

"Clara? Which date is it? You wanted to be back already."

She entered the console room, smiling at his distracted self.

The screen on the console unit suddenly displayed a time and date, making her smile widen.

"Nevermind, ah." he said, quite sheepishly, to have forgotten again what she had said to him to a point that even the Tardis had to make reminders.

The Tardis shook a little before she landed on the pavement. They both ran to the door and checked that he aimed right.

"Right, good one Doctor." she chuckled. "I'll see you soon then."

She kissed his cheek and gave a soft look at the time rotor above before leaving the Tardis to go back to the Maitlands'.

* * *

"Hello! I'm back!"

As usual, she helped Angie and Artie do their homework before starting to cook for dinner.

"Oh no, you're not trying to make a soufflé again, are you?" said Angie, already feeling the fail coming.

"It's my mum's soufflé! Except this time I will get it right, this time I'll be Soufflé Girl! Like my mum said: the soufflé isn't the soufflé, the _soufflé_ is the recipe."

"Was your mum deep in puddings?"

"She was a great woman" Clara said as she was whipping the mixture in a bowl. Her eyes laid on the kitchen counter and she noticed the mail. One of the envelopes caught her eye as it was looking old-fashioned. Ancient even. The address was written in cursive style and sealed by a wax stamp. She read what was written on the flap:

' _Open when alone.'_

"What's this?" she asked as she picked it up.

"Oh it arrived today, it's for you." Angie answered casually.

She left the soufflé she had started to make and as she headed toward her room, she said to Angie:

"I'll be in my room, I need to err… do something. If I'm not available for some reason and you or your dad need something important, just call the Doctor." and she quickly headed to her room upstairs to open the mysterious envelope.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think :)**


	49. Chapter 49

**Hello my dear readers! As I am halfway through the exams, I had the time to write chapter 49! Talking about exams, it would be very nice if you have a look at my short story 'Hide and Seek', it's on y profile and is due on Monday 7th so I'm trying to get feedback for a last minute editing :)**

 **So yeah, after a surprising and interesting finale, I'm posting the first part of Time and Space finale. Yes, yes, we are reaching the end as the next chapter will be the last! I can't believe it! I know some of you might have been getting bored of me with my long and complicated plot, some of you might have lost interest in the story, but i do hope that you will enjoy this and that everything will make sense to you at one point.**

 **Thank you to Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading and support, you're amazing!**

 **And Turtle, I miss you, you incredible girl!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 49_

 _'My dearest Clara. The Doctor entrusted me with your contact details in the event of an emergency, and I fear one has now arisen. Assuming this letter will have reached you as planned on April 10th 2013, please find and light the enclosed candle. It will release a soporific which will induce a trance state, enabling direct communication across the years.'_

Clara did not even take the time to read the rest of the letter that had been sent by Madame Vastra. She walked up to her bed, grabbing the little box of matches she usually used to light up her own candles on the way, and put the little flat candle on a bottle cap.

She lit it up and laid down on her bed, closing her eyes….

… To open them in a dark room. With a quick look, she identified a chinese decor made of ebony, dancing lights drawing patterns on the walls and Vastra, Jenny and Strax already there, sitting at an orthogonal table, and so was she.

"So glad you could make it." Madame Vastra spoke up, handing a warm cup of tea to Clara.

"Hello, nice to see you all again." said Clara with a smile, as she was remembering their adventure fighting the Crimson Horror.

They all nodded with a smile in return.

"Well, we are awaiting only one more participant." informed the Silurian.

"Oh no, not the one with the gigantic head?" said Strax, being faithful to himself.

"It's _hair_ Strax." Jenny corrected him.

" _Hair…_ "

As he finished saying the word, River Song appeared next to Clara.

"Madame Vastra." she said, a hint of surprise in her voice, curious to know why she had been summoned.

"Professor, help yourself to some tea." said Vastra, giving her a cup of tea.

"Why, thank you." River said politely, as she transformed her cup in another puff of smoke into a flute filled with champagne.

"How did you do that?" Jenny asked, surprised.

"Disgracefully…" the woman answered with her usual teasing smirk as she sipped her champagne. By doing so, she noticed Clara sitting at her left. The two women looked at each other for a few moments, an indescriptible look painted on their faces.

"Ah, perhaps you two haven't met: this is the Doctor's new companion." Vastra said. But as the two were still looking at each other, the Silurian felt she might have created an embarrassing situation. "That is, his current travelling assistant..." she added.

To add to Vastra's uneasiness, Strax thought it was a good time to ask her:

"Have you gone a darker green?"

"Clara Oswald." she said, trying to regain her countenance while presenting the young girl.

Suddenly that indescriptible look vanished from their faces and River presented herself with a smile:

"Professor River Song, the Doctor might have mentioned me?"

"Yes, of course he has." Clara answered with a smile. And as both turned their heads toward Vastra, she said: "You said there was an emergency."

Vastra nodded and, waving her hand in front of her, an hologram of a bald man appeared.

"Clarence DeMarco. Murderer, under the sentence of death. He offered us this in exchange for his life." she said. She waved her hand again and the hologram changed to let appear complicated circles. Circles Clara had already seen…

"Space-Time coordinates" said River.

"This, Mister DeMarco claims, is the location of the Doctor's greatest secret."

"Which is?" Clara asked.

"We don't know." answered Jenny. "It's a secret."

"The Doctor does not discuss his secrets with anyone, my dear." started Vastra abruptly. "And if you're still entertaining the idea that you're an exception to this rule then ask yourself one question: what is his name?"

As Jenny was touching her cheek looking confused, Clara sat back with a defiant smirk.

"Well I know it." River spoke up, diverting Vastra's attention from Clara.

"He's still never contacted you?" she asked.

"He doesn't like endings." the curly-haired woman shrugged.

Jenny shivered as River spoke up again:

"So what else did this DeMarco tell you? He didn't just buy his life with some coordinates. how did he prove their value?"

"One word only." the Silurian woman said. "A word I've heard in connection with the Doctor before." She paused. "Trenzalore."

River's eyes widened as she exchanged a look with Clara.

"How exactly did he describe what he was giving you?"

Thinking it would be better to show them, Madame Vastra waved her hand again, and the holographic head of DeMarco appeared and started to talk:

"The Doctor has a secret you know. He has one he will take to grave, and it is discovered."

"You misunderstood." River let out.

"Ma'am I'm sorry, I just realised I forgot to lock the door." said Jenny, looking as if she was not feeling very well.

"It doesn't matter Jenny." Vastra said, focused on River. "What misunderstanding, tell me."

"No Ma'am please, I should have locked up before we went into the trance!"

"Jenny it doesn't matt-" Vastra stopped as she finally looked at her wife who was very pale, her eyes lost in the vague and struggling to breathe.

"Someone's broken in, someone's with us." she said with a trembling voice. "I can hear them. I'm sorry, so sorry. So sorry… I think I've been murdered."

"Wake up. Now!" said Clara. "Vastra you have to wake up now!"

But as she was petrified at the sight of her astral wife fading, River slapped her to wake her up before turning to Strax who had stayed silent.

"You too Strax!" she exclaimed, as Clara was taking her flute to throw the champagne at his face.

The Silurian and the Sontaran disappeared, leaving River and Clara alone. But soon the atmosphere became cooler and darker and whispers came to their ears. Tall figures wearing Victorian suits and coats with top hats surrounded them. The skin of their faces was white, and they had no eyes and you could only discern a bump instead of their noses. They had no lips, just a dark and dirty gap as their mouths was letting crooked and pointed teeth hissing at them.

" _Tell the Doctor, tell the Doctor, tell the Doctor._ " they repeated in an eerie whisper.

"Tell him what?" asked Clara.

As an answer, the hologram of DeMarco changed to let the face of Doctor Simeon, the Great Intelligence, appear.

"His friends are lost for ever more, unless he goes to Trenzalore."

"No you can't say that!" exclaimed River. "He can't go there, you know he can't! The Doctor can never go to Trenzalore!"

As River was saying that, Clara felt something. She could discern something at the border of her trance state.

" _Angie? Artie? Am I getting warm?_ "

He was here.

She looked back at River who nodded, and closed her eyes…

… To open them in her bedroom. She heard the voice of the Doctor downstairs calling for the Maitlands children. As she said to call him if something important required his help, she quickly got up, tottering a bit as blood was banging in her head, before climbing down the stairs to see what happened.

She found the Doctor with a cloth covering his eyes:

"Am I getting warm? Look, I'm sure you've got to tell me if I'm getting warm, I'm-I'm-I'm pretty sure it's in the rules!"

 _He was such a child!_ Thought Clara, Vastra's letter in her hand.

"Doctor?"

"Ah! Clara!" he exclaimed. "How are you? Don't worry, everything is under control!"

"What are you doing?"

He turned around, detecting her voice, to face her as she was standing at his height thanks to the steps of the stairs.

"Oh, hum, you forgot your scarf so I came back to give it to you and Mister Maitland went next door so I said I'd look after the kids." he started. "they wanted to go to the cinema but I said no, no no, not until you wake up, I was very firm."

"At which point they suggested to play Blind Man's Buff." she deducted.

"Yes. Where are they?" he said, searching with his hands.

Clara walked up to him and untied the cloth around his head:

"At the cinema."

"The little… Daleks!" he said looking around before looking at Clara. He instantly knew something was wrong. She had that look. That look she had whenever there was something wrong that made an anxious knot in her belly and her heart heavy. "What's wrong?"

* * *

Clara poured some hot tea into two cups as she glanced over her shoulder at the Doctor sat in the sofa. He was looking in front of him, his legs crossed, but Clara knew. She could see the pain on his face, in his eyes. She knew this look way too much.

After adding a bit of milk and sugar, she slowly walked up to him.

"River asked Vastra the exact words. What were they?"

"The Doctor has a secret he will take to the grave. It is discovered…" her voice faded as she arrived in front of him. He was crying. The Doctor was crying. She immediately put the cups on the coffee table behind her and sat next to him, gently taking one of his hands in hers. "Doctor…?"

"Sorry…" he whispered, his other hand covering briefly his mouth as his green eyes glimmered with tears. "And it was Trenzalore, it was definitely Trenzalore?" he asked, his voice cracking and trembling.

She nodded a yes, broken to see her best friend in so much pain as he broke up in tears. Suddenly he took a deep breath as Clara rested her other hand on his cheek, wiping away his tears. He shut his eyes to stop crying and said to her:

"Sorry, I'm sorry Clara." before kissing her forehead and running out of the Maitlands' house.

Clara followed him, walking to give him a little time to gather his thoughts. As she entered the Tardis she had left only a few hours ago, she looked around. He was not around the console. She looked up at the time rotor as her humming soothed the anxious knot in her stomach. No wonder why the Doctor sought for comfort here. The inner voice that would always lead her through the corridors of the time machine, made her walk down the stairs to go under the console unit platform. There he was, sitting, his hand on his knees.

"Well…?" she shyly asked.

"Trenzalore. I've heard the name of course." he said, getting up and looking through the cables above his head with the sonic. "Dorium mentioned it, and a few others. Always suspected what it was, never wanted to find out myself. River would know though. River always knew."

She smiled as he chose a cable. She walked up to him, giving him her hand, as he was about to ask her to do so, acting like she was an extension of his mind to a point he did not even noticed that he had not said out loud his request. She knew what he wanted. She always knew.

"Right, the coordinates you saw will still be in your memory, I'm linking you to the Tardis telepathic circuit. Won't hurt a bit."

"Liar." she said, looking straight into his eyes. Their eyes locked for a moment.

 _K-tchunk!_

She winced as the needle pierced her palm and discreetly put her hand behind her back before he would ask her to show it to her. After replacing the cable back into its place above their heads, he stretched out a hand, silently asking her to show him her own hand.

She obeyed, only a tiny red dot left on her skin. Concerned that he hurt her, he brushed her palm with his thumb and kissed her forehead before explaining to her:

"When you are a time traveller, there is one place you must never go. One place in all of Time and Space you must never, ever find yourself." he started. " 'The Doctor has a secret he will take to the grave, it is discovered.' He wasn't talking about my secret, no, no, no, that's not what's been found. He was talking about my grave. Trenzalore is where I'm… buried…"

They went up to the console unit.

"We all have a grave somewhere in the future, waiting for us." he continued. "The trouble is, with time travel, you can actually end up visiting it."

"But you're not going to? You can't go there!" she exclaimed, walking up to him. As he looked at her she sighed. "You're going to go there to save Vastra, Jenny and Strax, aren't you?"

"No point in telling you this is too dangerous?"

"Not at all." she said with a smile.

He tried to hide the smile that was coming across his lips seeing the support of his best friend.

"Well then, let's break into my own tomb." he said, pulling a lever to make the Tardis take off.

Flying in the Tardis with the Doctor was usually quite bumpy, however this flight was way more bumpy than usual. They tried to cling onto the console unit, but as Clara was managing it quite well the Doctor seemed to be pushed away every time he was touching a control.

"What's that?" shouted Clara over the angry noise of the rotor.

"She's figured out where we were going and she's against it! I'm about to cross my own timeline in the biggest way possible, the Tardis doesn't like it!"

He was fighting with the Tardis to try and land on Trenzalore, but she would not let him touch any control, even producing sparks so he would not approach.

Clara shut her eyes, frowning, and a few seconds later the Tardis was still, only the regular humming could be heard as the rotor was going round above their heads just as usual.

The Doctor that had clung to the rails looked up confused.

"She stopped fighting. She just stopped!" he said as he looked at the screen. "We landed, we landed on Trenzalore, she let us land…"

Though he was not sure about what happened, he headed to the doors, Clara on his heels and they stepped out on the grey and dusty ground where soil was mixed with ash. It was all dark and grey, not a single sun ray to light up this world of graves. Graves, as far as their eyes could see there were only graves. Trenzalore was a planet-scale graveyard.

They went a bit forward, walking through the tombstones.

"Are you okay? Visiting your own grave, anyone would be scared."

"It's more than that." he said in a low voice. "I'm a time traveller, I've probably time-travelled more than anyone else."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning… My grave is potentially the most dangerous place in the Universe." he said. He took a deep breath and slipped his hand in hers. If this place was dangerous, he had to protect her, he had to be able to see her at all times and keep her next to him. "Shall we?"

They went a bit further as they saw bigger and smaller graves depending on the military rank of the people that died on the fields of Trenzalore until they saw a huge mountain.

"That's the Tardis…" Clara whispered, looking at the decaying blue box that was leaking the "bigger-on-the-inside" outside.

"What else would they bury me in?" he said as he went on, walking toward the decaying Tardis.

Clara turned around to see River standing there, as though she had been waiting for her, knowing that she would turn around. She did not speak, but only stepped aside to show Clara the tomb behind her bearing her name: River Song.

The Doctor noticed that Clara was not following him and came back to her:

"Who are you talking to? We need to get-" he stopped when his eyes met the grave of River Song, as he seemed not being able to see the astral River. But Clara had seen his eyes.

"River…" he let out, as he lightly touched her name engraved in the stone.

"That's not right…" said Clara.

"No, she died a very long time ago but her grave can't be here…"

As the Time Lord was focused on the mystery of the grave, whisperings came to Clara's ears. She turned around to see the Whisper Men she had already met coming their way.

"Doctor!" she called.

Immediately he protectively put her behind him, taking out his sonic screwdriver but it was not working on them.

" _This man must fall as all men must, the fate of all is always dust._ " they said with their eerie whisper, stretching a hand toward the Doctor and Clara as they were getting closer.

"Doctor!" Clara called him, getting his attention when he faced at her. "Think about it, what's that stone doing here? They'd never bury your wife here!"

"Of course!" he exclaimed, sonicking the false tombstone, making the ground disappear beneath their feet as they slipped in a tunnel, only the whispers of the Whisper Men following them.

" _The man who lies will lie no more, when this man lies at Trenzalore._ "

* * *

"Where are we?"

"Catacombs." the Doctor answered, grabbing a torch.

"I hate catacombs." she said. She looked behind her, River was here and there, present a second, gone in a heartbeat.

There always were whispers running through the stones, escaping from the long-dead mouths of the skulls that are now part of the walls.

As they walked down a corridor between bones and dust, those whispers were catching up with them, slipping in their ears, sipping on their brain. Clara glanced over her shoulder with the waltzing light of the Doctor's torch trying to fight the pitch-black darkness of the corridor. It was as if all the whispers were chasing them.

They sped up their pace, turned left and then right.

But the whispers were still there, right behind her, their ice-cold breath against the back of her neck, making the hair rise on her skin.

And as she threw another look behind her, she could see, coming out of the shadows a white-skinned shape with a top hat.

It stretched out a gloved-hand toward her and the whispers intensified as it opened its mouth with blood-red pointy teeth ready to take the life out of her.

"Clara!" shouted the Doctor, swiftly grabbing her by the waist to keep her safe just under his nose. "Run!" he said, his hand now grabbing hers.

For seconds, minutes, hours they had been running into this endless maze, this labyrinth of death.

They ran and ran, faster and farther from these Whisper Men… but no matter how far they would run, how fast fast would run, they were always right behind them.

In their desperate race to reach the decaying Tardis, the Doctor threw the burning torch at them, trying to strike the undead, well, dead. But it only went through as though it was some kind of wraith.

Now they were even more cross with them.

They finally saw a door of the Tardis corridors and rushed to it, the Doctor pushing the door open.

"Come on quickly!"

"Doctor!" she cried as he felt her dragging him back.

He turned around to see that the Whisper Men had caught her, and were trying to take away as she was holding tightly onto him. He pulled as much as he could and when they finally let go of her, the Time Lord slammed the metal door at their faces.

"Yowzah!" he let out, letting the torch fall to the floor as a dim light allowed them to see quite clearly.

They climbed stairs and walked down corridors, climbed another set of stairs and walked down other corridors until Clara started to totter, the world becoming a waving blur in her eyes.

"Clara, hey Clara?" He took her against him, trying to support her and keep her walking. "Hey, you're okay, you're fine. The dimensioning forces this deep in the Tardis, they can make you feel a bit giddy."

"I know, I know, I remember." she answered, blinking to regain a good sight and chase away the blur.

"Clara, you're fine, it's okay, there's nothing you can remember." he said, putting his hands on her cheeks.

"I remember. I told you I wanted to remember, I remember what happened that day."

"You should not be able to remember it! You-"

" _The girl who died he tried to save, she'll die again inside his grave._ " the Whisper Men cut him off.

"Run."

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, the changes are minor as always but you'll understand soon :) tell me what you think ;)**


	50. Chapter 50

**Hello my dear readers! Here I come again for one more chapter but not any chapter... because yes! This is the finale! This is the last chapter of Time and Space!**

 **There's an epilogue that will follow but it's already written, I can't believe that I have achieved this work! One year on working on Time and Space and it's finished!**

 **Thank you Turtle for your incredible support and also a big thank you to Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading and the amazing support!**

 **Thank you to all my followers and readers, so... all of you!**

 **I know some of you got bored with me rewriting the episodes with only a few alterations but well... I still hope you liked it and will like this ending...**

 **We will meet again on the epilogue :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Chapter 50_

As Jenny was coming back to life thanks to Strax, whispers started to run on the ground, on the walls around them. Jenny, Strax and Vastra looked up to see they were surrounded by Whisper Men. They made way for another shape to walk in the middle of them.

"I see you have repaired your pet. No matter, I was just attracting your attention. I presume I have it now."

"Doctor Simeon." said Vastra getting up. "This is not possible."

"And yet here we are, meeting again, so very far from home." Simeon answered.

"But he died!" exclaimed Jenny, confused.

"Simeon died, but the creature that possessed him lived on. I take it I am now talking to the Great Intelligence?"

"Welcome to the final resting place of the cruel tyrant!" the man only answered, as though he was running a show. "Of the slaughterer of the ten billion, and the vessel of the final darkness. Welcome! To the tomb of the Doctor!"

He spread his arms before going on as the three others were watching him silently:

"It was a minor skirmish, by the Doctor's blood-soaked standards. Not exactly the Time War, but enough to finish him. In the end, it was too much for the old man."

"Blood-soaked?" Jenny intervened.

"The Doctor has been many things, but never blood-soaked!" exclaimed Vastra.

"Tell that to the leader of the Sycorax, or Solomon the trader, or the Cybermen, or the Daleks!" retorted the Great Intelligence. "The Doctor lives his life in darker hues, day upon day, and he will have other names before the end. The Storm, the Beast, the Valeyard."

"Even if any of this were true, which I take the liberty of doubting, how did you come by this information?"

"I am information."

"You were a mind without a body that thought it could invade the world with snowmen the last time we met!" Jenny sassily answered.

"And you were supposed to stay that way." added Vastra coldly.

"Alas, I did."

At these words, the man tore his face revealing his body was nothing but an empty shell that evaporated as the clothes fell to the ground.

One of the white figures came forward, and suddenly its face started to move to finally form the face of Simeon again who said:

"As you can see." Paying no more attention to their questioning look, he turned around to face the doors behind him. "The doors require a key, the key… is a word, the word… is the Doctor's!" he exclaimed, turning around to face the Time Lord.

"Here I am. Late to my own funeral."

The Doctor smiled at Jenny, happy that Strax managed to save her.

"Open the doors Doctor. Speak and open your tomb."

"No. I will not." the man in a bow tie darkly answered.

Clara knew he could not do it. He did not want to, but most of all he could not do it.

"The Doctor's friends, stop their hearts!" ordered Simeon.

The Whisper Men stepped forward, their hands stretched out to tear Vastra, Jenny, Strax, and Clara's heart apart from their bodies. Clara quickly glanced at the Doctor that was unable to hide the panic in his eyes, as the white figures were getting dangerously close to his friends, to his Clara.

The young woman looked behind Simeon's shoulder to the astral River that had appeared and nodded discreetly. She let go of the Doctor's hand and turned around, facing the Whisper Men that were inches away from touching her, Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

As the gloved hand touched the fabric of her dress, she looked up at them and smirked. A pure golden light emanating from her flashed around in a destroying wave that targeted the Whisper Men: they all burned and got reduced to ashes in a heartbeat without them hurting even one of them.

Clara blinked a few times to chase the glowing darkness of her eyes before looking at the doors again. It did not work on Simeon, but that did not surprise her: he was the Great Intelligence, he might have been tougher. His inexpressive face only twitched at the sight of his men destroyed by one girl.

"How…" started the Doctor, confusion in his eyes.

But the doors opening did not let him finish his question and instantly diverted his attention.

Simeon stepped aside and waved to the doors ajar, silently ordering the Doctor to enter.

The Doctor contemplated the possibility to say no, to walk away, but he did not open the doors and if the doors opened then that might mean he had to do it, he had to do this.

Whispers ran on the floor again, surrounding them, and a few seconds later, new Whisper Men were forming a circle around them. Whatever happened with Clara, the Doctor did not want to take the risk to get her hurt again.

Sighing, he walked up to the doors and opened them before entering, his friends and Simeon with his men following him.

The were inside the console room that was invaded by crawling plants. Looking up at the time rotor that was still and silent, Clara could not help but find it very sad though, somehow, beautiful. The only noise produced by the Tardis that could be heard was the faint toll of the cloister bell. The Tardis was dying, slowly, but always protecting the Doctor within her caring walls.

They climbed up the stairs to go on the console unit platform to find there was no console unit anymore, just a stream of swirling light filaments that was producing a small sound, like an inaudible whisper.

"What's that?" asked Strax.

"What were you expecting, a body? Bodies are boring." the Doctor answered, his voice weary and faint. "I've had loads of them. Nah, that's not what my tomb is for."

"But what is the light?" asked Vastra.

"It's beautiful." whispered Jenny, as Clara made a step towards it.

"Should I destroy it?"

"Shut up, Strax!" exclaimed Vastra. "Doctor, what is it?"

"The tracks of my tears."

They all gathered around it, on one side the Doctor and his friends, on the other Simeon and the Whisper Men. Clara, seeing the Doctor looking quite dizzy came back to him and took his hand in hers.

"Less poetry, Doctor. Just tell them." Simeon cut him off.

"Time travel is damage. It's like a tear in the fabric of reality." he explained. "That is the scar tissue of my journey through the universe. My path through Time and Space from Gallifrey to Trenzalore…" he finished, taking out his sonic and pointing it to the light stream.

The whisper became audible for all, though they could only catch few bits of sentences. They could hear the many voices of the many faces he had had.

" _Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension?_ "

" _Do I have the right?_ "

" _Daleks, Cybermen, they're still in the nursery compared to us._ "

" _There are corners of the universe that have bred the most dangerous things._ "

" _You were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic._ "

" _I'm the Doctor. I'm from Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous_ "

" _Hello, Stonehenge!_ "

"My own personal time tunnel. All the days…" he started, his voice getting more faint.

" _It was the daisiest daisy I'd ever seen._ "

" _Oh Melody Williams! I knew you were special!_ "

" _This time there's three of us!_ "

"Even the ones that I, er… even the ones that I haven't lived yet…" he muttered before suddenly collapsing to the ground, weak.

"Doctor!" Clara let out, kneeling next to him and brushing his hair back.

"Which is why I shouldn't be here. The paradox. It's very bad." he said, as Simeon was stepping closer to the light stream. "No. No. No. What are you doing? Somebody stop him!"

Clara got up and tried to jump on Simeon to push him away. He was hurting the Doctor! But she had only made a step toward him when the Whisper Men seized her. She tried to fight, but there was ten of them, when she was alone. From the corner of her eye she noticed Vastra, Jenny and Strax that were starting to step forward to help her.

"Stay back!" she shouted. "All of you stay back, that is an order Vastra!"

"The Doctor's life is a open wound." started Simeon, taking advantage of the confusion around. "And an open wound can be entered."

"It would destroy you!" exclaimed Clara to him, still held by the men, her clothes torn by her fight, letting her show some of her skin.

"Not at all. It will kill me. It will destroy him." said Simeon. "I can rewrite his every living moment. I can turn every one of his victories into defeats. Poison every friendship. Deliver pain to his every breath! It will give me peace, as I take my revenge on every second of his life! Goodbye. Goodbye, Doctor."

Simeon stepped back and fell into the Doctor's time stream, screaming out of pain as he was shattered in a million pieces.

"NO!" Clara shouted, as she tried to fight against his men that were still here. One of them decided it was enough and started to plunge his hand in her chest to take her heart.

"Leave her! Clara!" shouted the Doctor that despite the burning pain of Simeon rewriting him had gotten up to help her. It was hurting, so much, but it was hurting him even more to not be able to help her. He fell on his knees only a few steps away from her, facing her back. As he looked up, something caught his eyes. Something on her skin.

He tried to narrow his eyes while getting closer. Circles, dark markings following her spine.

Those circles…

A blinding light suddenly flashed in the console room, as though the sun had burst in front of them.

When the Doctor opened his eyes again, he looked around the console room. Vastra, Jenny and Strax had disappeared, the Whisper Men had disappeared, only a feminine shape standing in front of the light stream. He found the strength to get up and observed her.

The bits of skin of her back were covered in markings, circular markings that were glowing in a golden light, and as she turned around, he saw that they were also covering her neck and drew patterns around her glowing eyes. The glowing light faded, as though it was absorbed by her skin and their eyes met.

Green on green.

Those eyes, these eyes.

He then noticed her face, the shape of her nose, of her lips, her hair cut to her neck, burning in a fiery red that was the same as her mother.

At this moment, it was as though time had stopped, as though he was not dying, not being rewritten by the Great Intelligence, not suffering as each of his cells were burning because of those eyes.

Those bright green eyes.

He stepped forward and as he stretched a hand to caress her cheek, a tear rolled on his as he realised she was real.

He leant in and kissed her like he had always wanted to do it, the touch of her lips against his making his hearts skip a beat.

"Melody…"

"Doctor." she answered with a soft, but somehow sad smile. "There isn't much time left, I managed to build a stasis bubble around us for a few moments but we need to stop the Great Intelligence, you are still in danger."

"No, wait, explain. How… You were dead! I've searched for you everywhere! You died…"

"I'm plus Time Lord, Doctor, the Tardis gave me regeneration abilities, and some others as you've seen and can see now. I regenerated when you were marrying River. When the time line got aborted I woke up on Earth, as Clara Oswald. I knew then that I had to do what Clara did, trying to limit my interventions to not create a paradox."

"It was you… It was you all along! But you died, in the Asylum, in Victorian London you-"

"Yes, I know, this is why I am here today, this is why I've been running with you. This is why the Tardis created me." she said, glancing at the Doctor's time stream. "I was born to save people, but above all, to save you, Doctor."

He stroke her cheek.

"My Impossible Girl… My Impossible Pond…" he whispered. "I didn't have the time to say goodbye that day…"

"Then you better do it properly today…"

"What? Why? No, you're coming with me right?"

"Doctor did you listen?" she asked, as he could see sadness growing in her eyes. "We don't have much time, I have to stop the Great Intelligence, there's nothing you can do, this is up to me."

"No, Melody no, I've lost you too many times, not this time, just this once for the hell of it, let me save you!" he said, talking quickly as he took her hands in his, almost pleading.

"I'll be fine." she said with a smile, raising one of her hands to his cheek. Though, her voice trembled a little and he could see that her eyes were filling with tears at the idea to cause him pain again. But she will fix that. "I'll go in there and I'll be saving you, meeting each of your incarnations, past and future. I'll be fine Doctor, I'll be with you. Let me be brave."

"But you won't be here, you'll be dead again and I'll be alone again… you'll be dead." His voiced cracked. This tore her heart apart, but she had to do it.

"There isn't another way… believe me, you'll be fine, and we'll meet again, I promise. Once I'll jump in there, you'll see me again, I'll come to you, sometimes in the most surprising ways. But there isn't another way." she said, her eyes in his. "Trust me… "

For a moment she glanced around them. Vastra, Jenny and Strax will come back when she will jump in his time stream. There was no trace of the astral River… because she was here. She felt that she would not be able to keep the stasis bubble much longer and pain will gradually come back to him.

"How… do I say goodbye…?" he asked, making her look up at him.

"There's only one way I'd accept it." she said. She looked deep into his eyes. Those big sad eyes. "Everything you are about to say, I know it. So just do it knowing that we'll meet again."

He did not like endings.

His green eyes glimmered with contained tears but he managed to smile to her. He lovingly kissed her before kissing her forehead and stepping away.

"See you around, Melody Pond."

She smiled and stepped closer to the light stream, her finger losing touch with his.

"Run you clever boy…" she started, a smile full of emotion on her lips, a smile he will never forget. "And remember."

And she stepped in the Doctor's time stream, the light that had become red slowly turning back to white. As she disappeared, the bubble stasis disappeared and the Doctor collapsed to the ground, undergoing the changes that Simeon had made, burning from the inside and clenching his jaw to not scream out of pain before gradually feeling the pain fading as Melody, his Melody, was saving him.

Always running to save him.

* * *

She fell.

It was like she was breaking into a million pieces and there was one thing she could remember: she had to save the Doctor.

He would always look different. But she would always know it was him.

Sometimes it was like she was everywhere at once, running every second just to find him.

Just to save him.

And he would always hear her.

She had been created by the Tardis.

She was the Impossible Pond and she was born to save the Doctor.

* * *

He closed his eyes as a tear rolled on his cheek, shimmering at the light of the stream.

He had lost her.

Again.

And there was nothing he could do to save her.

And his hearts were wrenched again. Bleeding again.

Suddenly, a memory came up to his mind, playing as though it was a film in his closed eyes.

Making the red herbs rustle, a young girl, a child, was swiftly slipping through them. Running while a crystal laughter was escaping her lips. Her long red hair, her shiny green eyes, her pale skin where some discreet golden circles could be found, and her long gold and dark red dress were making her look like she was the personification of the nature around her. Her hair and the ribbons tied to her dress were floating in the small breeze as she was still running, still laughing.

The picture of elation itself.

A smile started to stretch his lips as he was lying on the ground of his decaying Tardis, on the Fields of Trenzalore.

He opened his green eyes that were now shining with a soft and nostalgic happiness, and whispered:

"Oh Melody Pond… My Impossible Girl…"

* * *

 **I can't believe this work that took me a year is finished... I'll see you on the epilogue that will come soon :) Let me know what you think, I hope you liked it...**


	51. Epilogue

**Hello my dear readers, me meet again one last time for the Epilogue of Time and Space.**

 **I'll make a more complete note at the end of it, I'll let you read first.**

 **You can read while listening to John Nordstrom - Lost Along The Way :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

 _Epilogue_

 _Afterword by Melody Williams_

This is the Story of Melody Pond, and this is how it begins…

I blew into this world on a ray of light.

An alternate version created by the Tardis herself of the original Melody Pond who got turned into a weapon.

Carried by the Tardis through the crack in the Universe and put in this cot, like a gift for childless parents. I grew up into being a young woman, Melody Williams, until, one day, my fate caught up on me.

The day I met the Doctor.

It was the best day ever, the best day of my life.

In my Universe, he was just a dream. I thought he was. I was wrong.

He was real and one day, he found me.

He had felt there was something special about me but he did not know what, and so did I at the time.

But it's like he said: he never knows how, he only knows who. And I flew away with him, trying to help every now and then thanks to my foreknowledge.

I met Amy and Rory. And I met River Song, on her first day. I met Melody Pond.

We went on adventures, until that day.

The day River Song became the woman who killed him. And the woman who married him.

April 22nd 2011, 5:02pm.

She created a paradox by not killing the Doctor, History happening all at once, our world collapsing on itself. The Doctor and River being the epicentre of the upcoming explosion.

The Silence tried to finish the work by themselves, and they attacked us.

As Amy, Rory, the Doctor and River were saving the Universe, I stayed behind to help them, as I always did.

I gave my life for him, his eyes being the last image I was taking with me in death.

The Doctor.

He was everything for me.

I have fallen on this day.

But I'm still blowing.

I'm still running, everywhere and everywhen.

All of Time and Space before me.

I don't think I'll ever land, that I'll ever stop. Sometimes, it feels like I have lived a thousand lives, scattered in a million pieces. But it's always me. Always running. Always saving him. Always giving my life for him. Because he is worth it.

Because he is the Doctor.

My Doctor…

There was no Clara Oswald in this Universe. Because Clara Oswald was me. Clara Oswald was my next incarnation. Because that day, when the Silence killed me, what the Doctor did not see, is that I regenerated. Burning from regeneration energy, I killed them all. All the Silence. And when the timeline got aborted, I got placed where I had to be… As Clara Oswald.

Until one day, he found me. Again.

We ran together on adventures again. He did not know who I really was, I thought it would hurt him too much. And it had to be this way. Until that day.

The day we went to Trenzalore.

The day he found out who I was.

I was made of Time Space energy and that's why I could use it as a defence mechanism. And that's when he understood. When I wiped out the Whisper Men by using the gift of the Tardis. When my disguise faded to let appear who I really was.

I was Melody Pond all along.

And to save the Doctor one more time, I had to jump in his time stream.

And to save the Doctor one more time, I had to die.

But I'm still blowing…

This is story of Melody Pond, and this is how it ends...

~ The End…

* * *

 **So I hope you enjoyed it. Now Time and Space is over but know that I am making a sequel to this story so if you're interested in reading it, just go follow me or the story "The Shining World Of The Seven Systems" to be sure you'll get a notification once I'll start to post there (for now there's only a one shot but I'm making it a full story following this one :) ). I'm already working on it :)**

 **I hope you liked Time and Space, it was my very first complete fanfiction (and written in English, I am French). I can't believe it's finished since I've been working on it for a whole year! It went over 200 pages! :D**

 **So I would like to thank you all for your support, and especially Turtle and Freya Astrid Nova who have been absolute sweet hearts!**

 **I hope to see you soon under my next story :) Take care!**

 **Melody - xxxx.**

 **PS: If you need explanations on things you didn't understand even after the resolution, don't hesitate to PM me, I'll answer you :)**


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